68 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



caterpillar or a grub, a beetle, fly, or worm, but never a grain 

 of corn or fruit of any kind." In support of his assertions he 

 quotes in a note an anonymous "newspaper record" telling 

 of the examination of the contents of the stomachs of 118 

 sparrows by an unnamed investigator, which showed that 

 three of the birds had eaten nothing but grain for the pre- 

 ceding twenty-four hours, seventy-five had partaken of little 

 besides insect food, while insects had formed a large part of 

 the diet of the remainder. The value of this quotation would 

 have been enhanced had some clue been given to the identity 

 of the investigator or: the locality where the investigation was 

 conducted. 



x\s Sir Walter Buller pleads guilty to being accessory to 

 the importation of the sparrow into the colony, it is possible 

 he may be somewhat prejudiced in its favour. One small 

 inaccuracy may be noted. Sir Walter asserts that it is only 

 when the farmers' grain is "dead ripe" that the mischief is 

 done, but I think most farmers will tell you that the birds 

 begin their depredations when the grain is in the milky stage, 

 and do not desist so long as the grain is accessible. 



I dare say there are still a few people who are of the same 

 opinion as Sir Walter Buller, and who will contend that the 

 house-sparrow repays in some measure the injuries it undeni- 

 ably inflicts by the benefits it confers by destroying injurious 

 insects. Such persons say that, while the evil wrought is 

 manifest to the most superficial observer, the good they do 

 is hidden from most eyes. This latter statement, while true 

 regarding many birds, whose good deeds far outw-eigh their 

 trifling misdemeanours, is, I fear, a fallacy as regards the 

 sparrow. The assertion made by Sir Walter Buller that the 

 sparrows feed their young entirely upon insects is one which 

 requires confirmation. The idea that because the bills of the 

 young birds are soft they must of necessity be fed on soft food, 

 ■which I have heard urged as a proof of the statement regarding 

 the food of the young, seems to me most fallacious. As the 

 food is dropped by the parent into the gaping mouth of the 

 nestling, and is gulped down at once, the texture of tlie 

 nestling's bill can hardly be a factor in determining the nature 

 of its food. That sparrow's do destroy a good many insects I 

 readilv admit, ])ut I feel assured that anv services thev thus 

 render are comparatively trifling and would be better per- 

 formed by other birds, and are unworthy of consideration. 



Some few months ago there came into my possession a 

 book published by the United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture (Division of Ornithology and Mammology, Bulletin 1), 

 entitled "The English Sparrow {Passer doviesticxis) in North 

 America." It is a thick pamphlet of about four hundred 

 pages, and bears abundant evidence of the thorough manner 



