HOUSE SPARROW 213 



the next three years they became numer- 

 ous in Boston, and in 1873 they began to 

 invade Cambridge, appearing first at Har- 

 vard Square and in Cambridgeport. A few 

 were seen in the immediate neighborhood 

 of our own place the following year, and in 

 1875 a pair nested, for the first time, in our 

 garden.'* 



So now the House Sparrow we always 

 have with us. It abides in abundance. But 

 it seems as if the species locally had been 

 somewhat on the decrease in the last few 

 years. It is known that the parent grackles 

 destroy some of the young sparrows, be- 

 cause this has been witnessed by a number 

 of observers in June at the time when the 

 grackles' young are first out of the nest 

 and seeking food, and when also the young 

 House Sparrows are clumsy of movement 

 and fall easily a prey. I suspect the provo- 

 cation proceeds from the parent sparrows 

 who may in their rude way steal the young 

 grackles' food for themselves or their young, 

 and that the killing is done in retaliation 

 and in the interest of the young grackles, 



