248 BIRDS OF ILLINOIS. 



"The House Sparrow of Europe has heen introduced into so many 

 parts of the United States as to render it probahle that at no dis- 

 tiint (hiy it will have beeoine one of our most familiar species. 

 Brought over to the New World within a compurativfly few years, 

 it has commenced to multiply about the larger cities, especially in 

 the environs of New York, as also about Portland, Boston, Newark, 

 and rhiJadelphia • » • q^. thousand birds were 



let loose in the public squares of Philadelphia in the spring of 

 18G0." (Hist. N. Am. B., 1874.) 



Concerning this unmitigated pest we have little to say, further 

 than to bewail the misfortune of its introduction, and to plead for 

 its extermination. It is in every respect a first-class nuisance, to 

 be classed along with the house-rat and other noxious vermin. 



SL'nF.\MiLY SPIZELLIN-ffi.— The American Sparkows. 



Chau. Bill variiible. iisuiilly aliiiost striiiulit; somolimos ourvpil. Commissure con- 

 enilly noiirly striiinlit. or .slinlitly concnve. ri>P<>r mmnlilile wider than iowi-r. Nostrils 

 exposeil. WiiiKs moiicrato; tlio outor primaries not min'h roumlcd. Tail variable. Feet 

 larife; tarsi mostly lontfor than the midJle toe. 



The species are usually small, and of dull color, though frequently 

 handsomely marked. Nearly all are streaked on the back and 

 crown, often on the belly. None of the United States species have 

 any red, blue, or orange, and the yellow, when present, is as a 

 superciliary streak, or on the elbow edge of the wing. 



In the arrangement of this sul)family, as of the others belonging 

 to the Friii(iUit(he, we do not profess to give anything like a natural 

 system, but merely an attempt at a convenient ai-tificial scheme by 

 which the detennination of the genera may be facilitated. 



A. Tail small ami short, eousiiiernbly or iloeidedly shorter than thewinus. owiiic ellluT 

 to the elouKation of the wing or the shortening of the tail. Lnteral toes shorter tlian 

 thi' niiiMl.' without the elaws. Speeies streaked above and below. ;Aimnodrameee.) 

 Ammodramus. Tarsus not longer than middle toe. witli eluw. No white uuu-r tail- 

 feathers. 



a. Suhgenus Ammodramus. Bill slender, the depth at the base less than half 

 the oulnien. Tail Rraduated. the feathers aeute. Outstretched feet reaehing 

 to or beyond tip of tall. 



b. Subgenus Coturniculus. Bill stouter, the depth at base more than half the 

 oulmcn (c.xeept in C. lecontei). Tail graduated or double-rounded, the feathers 

 narrow and aeuto. Outstretched feet falling short of tip of tail. 



