3l6 MEMOIRS OF THE NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 



Pheasants croak hoarsely when chasing each other, but all through the 

 spring and early summer one may hear everywhere in the eastern parts of Essex 

 County their croiuings. These are apt to be overlooked and mistaken for the 

 crowingsof barnyard Fowl, but when once recognized they are not easily passed 

 unnoticed. The c7V'tV consists of two notes, and suggests a very immature 

 rooster with a sore throat. During midsummer the birds are generally silent, 

 but they are sometimes heard again in October. 



2 Passer domesticus (Linn.). 

 European House Sparrow ; " English Sparrow." 



Abundant permanent resident. 



This most unfortunate introduction is found abundantly in all the cities, 

 towns, and villages of the County, as well as at many isolated farm-houses. It 

 was introduced into this country, in 185 i, at Brooklyn, N. Y., and at Boston, in 

 1868. Its spread at first was comparatively slow and was limited to the large 

 cities. From 1875 to 1880, I found none of these birds in Magnolia and the 

 neighboring towns where they are now so common. From that time till 1892, 

 I have no record of their spread in Essex County, but the following from my 

 notebook under date of July 13th, 1883, for Arlington Heights, about the same 

 distance from Boston as the southern end of Essex County, is of interest, and 

 illustrates the great change that has come about in the numbers of these birds 

 in a comparatively short time : " English Sparrows are far from uncommon on 

 the hill this year. Last year there were only two or three, and the year before 

 I did not notice any. But this year, besides several which I have seen and 

 heard near the house, I have found a flock of ten or fifteen young birds on the 

 main avenue. Have not seen any away from the houses in the fields as yet." 



Although I found them abundant in 1891 in the town of Ipswich, and at 

 the neighboring farms, they had extended but a short distance along the road to 

 the sea, which is some five miles distant. During August and September, how- 

 ever, flocks of fifteen or twenty, mostly immature birds, woiild extend their 

 flights to the grain-fields, hen-yards, and roads within two or three miles of the 

 sea. In 1901, they began nesting at a farm about a mile from the sea, and the 

 next year all the farms in the vicinity, including the one on Castle Hill were 

 thus invaded. From these farms as centers, flocks of English Sparrows visited 

 the neighboring country, although their numbers in winter were so few that 

 they were hardly ever seen except close to their homes. In November of 



