52 SEVENTH REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 



resident at or near one place it takes possession of the available nesting sites before 

 our migratory native birds return from the south, and once established the Sparrow 

 is a difficult bird to dislodge. Surprisingly fecund, it begins to breed in March, at 

 the first indication of warm weather, and has been known to rear six broods in a 

 season. At this rate it has been estimated * that should the progeny of one pair 

 of Sparrows all live and breed, at the end of ten years they would amount to 

 275,716,983,698 Sparrows. 



The growing use of self-propelling vehicles in our cities increases the seriousness 

 of the Sparrow question. Within a few decades it is probable that comparatively 

 few horses will be used in our larger towns and cities. There has been a decrease of 

 over 8,000 horses, or about 11 per cent, in the horse population of New York City in 

 the past six years. 



As the horses diminish in numbers there will be a corresponding diminution in 

 the food supply of the Sparrows. Eventually they will exist in our cities, except 

 in the parks, only in small numbers. 



We cannot hope that this loss of food will be followed by the death of what will 

 gradually become the surplus Sparrow population ; but, in view of the Sparrow's 

 proved ability to adapt himself to widely-varying conditions, we must believe 

 that when the city fails to yield him a living he will spread into the surrounding 

 country. There he will be brought into direct competition with our native species, 

 with what result it is not difficult to predict. 



The extermination of the Sparrow in this country is believed to be an impossi- 

 bility ; but it probably can be kept in check by persistent and continuous effort 

 under the direction of the State ; and, in the opinion of the writer, the subject is 

 of sufficient importance to warrant prompt action on the part of the State. 



TANAGERS. Family Tanagridas. 



Scarlet Tanager (Piranga erythromelas). — "Of twenty-nine specimens exam- 

 ined, one had eaten ants ; three, three ichneumon flies, two of them Tlialessa luna- 

 tor ? , the other a small species having an extent of wing of one-tenth of an inch; 

 eight, twenty-six caterpillars; three, six diptera, three of them tipulids; seventeen, 

 forty-seven beetles ; three, six hemipterous insects; four, seven grasshoppers; one, 

 a small dragon-fly ; one, a very large spider; and two, ten harvest-men. Curculios, 

 elaters, and leaf-chaffers, some of them three-fourths of an inch long, were repre- 



* The English Sparrow in North America. Bull. I, Div. Economic Ornithology and Mammalogy, 

 U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, p. 2q. 



