426 THE HOUSE SPARROW. 



cor it have been, indeed, difficult to understand, unless in the belief 

 that it Avas done with the mistaken idea that it would destroy insect 

 })ests, particularly canker worms, in the parks of cities, and where it 

 was originally introduced. This error was pointed out at the time, 

 but was ignored ; in fact, such a sparrow " boom " existed at one 

 l^eriod in this country that parties so infatuated found it cheaper to 

 import direct from Europe than from New York and other places 

 at home. There were two classes who always seemed anxious to 

 have the house sparrow in this country. One was the European 

 part of our population, who, remembering the surroundings of the 

 homes they had left, longed for its familiar chirp and suggestive 

 cheerfulness; the other was that class of peoj^le who thought they 

 were getting an insectivore, although they were informed by com- 

 petent authority to the contrary. Now, there is an insectivorous 

 bird called and known in England as tlie hedge sparrow, but which 

 is no sparrow at all. It is the Accentor modularis:, belonging to 

 an entirely different family {Sylvnd(e), the old-world warblers, is 

 related to the thrushes, and, like all of its family, feeds on insects 

 almost entirely, while the sparrow family proper are mainly graniv- 

 orous, except in the spring and summer w^hen raising their young, 

 which they feed on insects and other soft food. It is reasonable to 

 sui^pose that the importer of the house sparrow confused it in his 

 mind with the hedge sparrow. 



Sonnini, in the Dictionaire d'Histoire Naturelle, nearly a century 

 ago, writes that spai-rows lived " only in society with man, dividing 

 with him his grain* his fruit, and his home; they attack the first 

 fruit that ripens, the grain as it approaches maturity, and even that 

 which has been stored in granaries." He also states that " 82 grains 

 of wheat were counted in the craw of a sparrow shot by the writer; 

 and Ivougier de la Bergerie, to whom we owe excellent memoirs on 

 rural economy, estimates that the sparrows of France consume annu- 

 ally 10,000,000 bushels of Avheat." Reports from France have been 

 confirmed by those from other countries, and the character of the 

 house sparrow has been discussed in France, Germany, and Great 

 Britain for more than four centuries. The damage done by it to 

 agriculture and horticulture has been immense, simply incalculable, 

 for it has been inflicted directly and indirectly. 



Besides the direct injury by it to grain crops (wheat, corn, oats, 

 rye, barley, buckwheat, etc.), to fruits, garden seeds, vegetables, and 

 to buds, blossoms, and foliage of trees and vines, is also that resulting 

 indirectly from its molestation of other wild birds which are known 

 to be decidedly beneficial to the garden and farm. Testimony has 

 been secured showing that there are at least 70 kinds of these, includ- 

 ing martins, swallows, wrens, and bluebirds, Avliich are interfered 

 with to the great loss of farmers and gardeners. It not only succeeds 



