Bathgate. — The Sparrotv Plague and its Remedy. 71 



consist almost exclusively of injurious insects, with but a small 

 proportion of beneficial or innocuous kinds. 



Before closing my indictment of the sparrow I shall refer 

 to one aspect of it which the American observers consider sus- 

 tamed — namely, that it drives away from its neighbourhood 

 the purely insectivorous birds, and thus allows injurious 

 insects to increase in such localities. Professor J. A. 

 Lurtner, State Entomologist of New York, writing of the 

 increase of the caterpillar of the tussock moth, which is very 

 destructive to trees in many parts of the States, says, " The 

 extraordinary increase of the Orgyia cucostigvia is owing to the 

 introduction and multiplication of the English sparrow. This 

 may seem a strange statement in consideration of the fact that 

 the sparrow was imported from Europe for the express pur- 

 pose of abating the caterpillar nuisance in New York and 

 some of the New England cities. . . . The increase of 

 the Orgyia cucostigma commenced and has continued to pro- 

 gress with that of the sparrow. A remark made to me that 

 the caterpillars had been observed to be very numerous in 

 localities where the sparrows also abounded induced me to 

 undertake to verify or disprove the idea that had suggested 

 itself to me that the sparrow afforded actual protection to 

 the caterpillars and promoted their increase." After giving 

 details of the observations, he goes on to say, " That the 

 sparrows decline to eat the Orgyia caterpillar is not a charge 

 against them. They could not eat them with impunity. The 

 diet would doubtless prove fatal to them. The charge to 

 which they are amenable is this : By the force of numbers, 

 united to a notoriously pugnacious disposition, they drive 

 away the few birds that would feed upon them." The authors 

 of the English pamphlet from which T have quoted concur in 

 the view expressed by the American investigators that the 

 sparrows drive away more useful birds, and I am by no means 

 sure that we might not have similar cause for complaint here, 

 as some of our native insectivorous birds, sucli as the tomtit 

 {Myionioira maci ocephala) and the fantail {Bhipidura flahel- 

 lifera), are much less numerous in the neighbourhood of Dun- 

 edin than they once were. It is probable, however, that the 

 increase in the number of cats may have been the main cause 

 of the diminution of the number of the former, though the 

 advent and increase of the sparrow, I am inclined to think, 

 has been a considerable factor. ' 



I shall not take up your time by dwelling on the minor 

 counts of the indictment, such as the injuries to fruit and 

 vegetables, and the damage to and disfigurement of buildings 

 by their nests, as I think I have already made out a strong 

 case against the sparrow, and, having done so, I shall now con- 

 sider the remedy. 



