FINCHES 



19 



ber is tliree and trustworthy observers have 

 recorded four and five. Very seldom are there 

 less than four birds in a brood and the old birds 

 are generally successful in s^a-tting the youni; on 

 the wing without any accidents. Therefore an 

 immense number of these Sparrows can be raised 

 in a limited area in one season. A dozen pairs 

 in the course of three or four years will have 

 increased, if let alone, to thousands. 



The English Sparrow among birds, like the 

 rat among mammals, is cunning, destructive, and 

 filthy. Its nattiral diet consists of seeds, but il 

 eats a great variety of other foods. \\'hile much 

 of its fare consists of waste material from the 

 streets, in autumn and winter it consumes (|uan- 

 tities of weed seed and in summer numenius 

 insects. The destruction of weed seed sliduld 

 undeniably count in the Sparrow's favor. Its 

 record as to insects in most localities is not sd 

 clear. 



In exceptional cases it has been found very 

 useful as a destroyer of insect pests. For 

 example, during an investigation by the United 

 States Biological Bureau of birds that destroy 

 the alfalfa weevil, English Sparrows were feeding 

 their nestlings largely on weevil larvs and cut- 

 worms, both of which are very injurious to 

 alfalfa. In this case the Sparrows, attracted by 

 grain in the fields and poultry rtins and by the 

 excellent nest sites afforded by the thatched roofs 

 of many farm buildings, had left the city and 

 taken up their abode in the country where the 

 weevil outbreak subsequently occurred. l'nf(ir- 

 tunately, however, farmers can rarely expect 

 such aid asfainst their insect foes, \\'liene\-er 



this bird proves usefid it is entitled to protection 

 and encouragement in proportion to its net value. 

 Under normal conditions its choice of insects is 

 often unfavorable. 



The English .Sparrow destroys fruit, as cher- 

 ries, grapes, pears, and peaches. It also destrovs 

 liuds and flowers of cultivated trees, shrubs, and 

 vines. In the garden it eats seeds as they ripen, 

 and nips ulT ten(ki \(inni, \(L;(tihles, especialh' 



Photo l.y 11. T. Mi.ldlil.jTi 



FEMALE ENGLISH SPARROW 



peas and lettuce, as lliey ai^iear abo\e ground. 

 It damages wheat and other grains, whether 

 newly sown, ripening, or in shocks. As a flock 

 of fifty .Sparrows requires daily the equivalent 

 of a quart of wheat, the annual loss caused by 

 these birds throughout the country is very great. 

 It reduces the numliers of some our most useful 

 native birds, as Bluebirds, House Wrens, Purple 

 .Martins, Tree Swallows, and Barn Swallows, by 

 destroying their eggs and young and by usurping 

 nesting places. 



SNOW BUNTING 

 Plectrophenax nivalis nivalis ( Liii/nnis) 



.\ O I' XuTiilMr -u See Color I'l.Tte 80 



Other Names. — Snowflake ; Snow Lark; Snuwliinl; 

 Whitebird ; White Snowbird. 



General Description. — Length, 8 incho>. L\ Su.\i- 

 mkr: Male, wliite with black markings: female, white, 

 streaked on upper parts with black. In Wintkr: Moth 

 sexes have the upper parts stained with rusty. Rill, 

 with lower section thicker than the upper section : 

 wings, long and pointed; tail, about .'s length of wing, 

 forked, and the middle pair of feathers pointed at the 

 tip. 



Color. — Adult Male in Summer: General color, 

 pure white: back, shoulders, innermost secondaries, and 

 greater wing-coverts, greater part of primaries, and 

 four to si.x middle tail-feathers (sometimes rump also), 

 black; bill, black; legs and feet, black, or the former 

 sometimes dark brown. .AnULT Male in Winter: 



.Similar to the Mininier idnmagc, but the white parts 

 (except under parts (if body) staincrl with rusty brown, 

 especially on crown ( where sometimes rich dark 

 lirown) and hindneck. and the black of the back, 

 shoulders, etc., broken (sometimes almost concealed) 

 by broad margins of rusty and buffy wdiitish : bill, 

 yellow. Adult Female in Summer: Crown, dusky, 

 the feathers margined with dull wdiitish or pale grayish 

 huffy; hindneck. dull whitish or pale dull bufTy. 

 streaked with dusky: back and shoulders (sometimes 

 rump also), dull black or dusky, the feathers margined 

 with dull whitisli (their edgings quite \vorn off in mid- 

 summer plumage) : lesser and .greater wing-covcrts. 

 blackish margined and edged with whitish : greater 

 part of secondaries, three outermost tail-feathers, and 

 under parts (sometimes rump also), white: bill. 



