BIRDS OF THE riCINITY OF NEW YORK CITY 167 



*Pine Grosbeak (Pinicola emiclcator Icucura). This species occurs here in 

 the winter and then only at irregular intervals. It last appeared in numbers 

 during the winter of 1903-4 when it was first observed at Englewood, N. J., 

 Oct. 25 (Chapman, Bird-Lore, V, 1903, p. 199). 



♦House Sparrow; English Sparrow (Passer domesticus). From the report 

 of the Division of Economic Ornithology of the Department of Agriculture 

 (Washington, 1889), we learn that English Sparrows were first introduced 

 into New York City in i860, when twelve birds were released in Madison 

 Square. In 1864 they were introduced in Central Park, and in i866 two 

 hundred were set free in Union Park. From these, and one or two other 

 small additional importations of a few pairs each, have descended the count- 

 less numbers of Sparrows which to-day inhabit our streets and parks. In 

 this latitude the English Sparrow has been known to rear six broods in a 

 season, and their marvelous rate of increase is graphically given in a table in 

 the report already mentioned, which shows that in ten years the progeny 

 of a single pair might amount to 275,716,983,698. 



With the discordant notes of these ubiquitous little pests constantly in 

 our ears we may read with mixed humor and regret the following quotation 

 from Lawrence's Catalogue of New York Birds (Ann. Lye. Nat. Hist., VIII, 

 1S66, p. 287) : "I first observed them in the spring of 1865. A friend, con- 

 versant with our local native birds, informed me that he had seen a species 

 in the shrubbery around the church on the corner of 5th avenue and 29th 

 street, with which he was not familiar ; on going to ascertain what they were, 

 to my surprise I found them to be House Sparrows ; they were domiciled in 

 the ivy which grew on the walls of the church, and were quite gentle and 

 fearless, some alighting in the street and dusting themselves quite near to 

 where I stood." 



