146 • BIRI>^ 1^^ THEIR RELATIONS TO MAN. 



A lew years ago tlie officials of I he United Stales Department 

 of iVgriciilture examined the stomachs of five hundred and 

 twenty-two sparrows from many different localities : insects 

 of any kind were found in only one hundred and two of 

 these ; and of the insects so found forty-seven were regarded 

 as belonging to noxious species, fifty to beneficial species, and 

 thirty-one to species having no economic importance. The 

 testimony of those best able to judge is almost unanimously 

 to the effect that as destroyers of noxious insects the sparrows 

 are worse than useless. In his report upon the insect con- 

 tents of the live hundred and twenty-two sparrow stomachs 

 just referred to, Dr. C. V. Riley says : '• I do not know of 

 any fact that more strongly indicates the relative uselessness 

 in destroying injurious insects of the sparrow, as compared 

 with many native birds which it drives away, than by a com- 

 parison of the insect food taken by a single cuckoo shot in 

 Washington, June 22, 1887, the stomach of which contained 

 about two liundred and fifty half-grown web-worms, one large 

 cerambycid beetle and its eggs, one large plant-bug, and one 

 snail, while in bulk the contents in this case rather exceeded 

 the combined insect contents of the five hundred and twenty- 

 two sparrow stomachs exannned." In 1880 Professor S. A. 

 Forbes examined the stomachs of twenty-five Illinois spar- 

 rows, and reports that at a 'Mime when thirty per cent, 

 of the food of the robin, twenty jxt cent, of that of the 

 cat-bird, and ninety per cent, of that of the bluebird con- 

 sisted of insects, no insects were found in the stomachs of 

 these birds except traces of three grasshoppers, making per- 

 haps six per cent, of the food." To show that results of 

 this kind in investigating the si)aiTow"s diet are not confined 

 to America, we may add that of an English ornithologist who 

 studied during a whole year the food of young and adult 

 sparrows. For the latter he found that seventy-five per cent, 

 of the food consisted of wheat and small grains, ten per cent, 

 of seeds of weeds, four per cent, of green peas, three per 



