THE ENGLISH SPARRO IV IN AMERICA. 5 1 



especially horse-manure ; but in the West, where such 

 supplies are more limited, these granivorous birds would 

 at once and continually prey upon the crops. I am not 

 informed to what extent they may have multiplied already 

 in some of the places, as at Salt Lake City, to which they 

 have been transported, and where they have obtained a 

 foothold ; but it may not be too late, if vigorous mea- 

 sures are taken at once, to stamp out the plague. The 

 strongholds of the birds are few, comparatively speaking, 

 and isolated to such a degree that the eradication of the 

 birds from that part of the United States may not be now 

 absolutely impracticable, as unfortunately seems to be the 

 case in the East. The Great Plains offer a natural 

 barrier to the westward progress of the birds from the 

 Mississippi ; and if pains be taken to destroy the advance 

 guard as fast as they move westward, the evils now ^ 

 suffered in the East may be long delayed or even avoided. 

 In most parts of the West where the sparrows have 

 appeared, it is believed that they have been imported, not 

 that they reached these spots by spontaneous migra- 

 tion or natural dispersion. If this be the case, indeed, it 

 may not be a matter of the greatest difficulty to destroy 

 them, root and branch, in the comparatively few places in 

 which they have already become naturalized. Should 

 this be done, and laws be passed prohibiting the intro- 

 duction of the birds into the Western States and Terri- 

 tories, immunity from invasion might be secured for a 

 practically unlimited period. To bring this matter to the 

 attention of the people in the West, and to urge that such 

 measures be taken without further dangerous delay, is the 

 object of the present paper. 



This may seem an extreme course, to the few who still 



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