REPORT OF THE ORNITHOLOGIST AND MAMMALOGIST. 235 



vear, and the widespread difference of opinion in regard to their eco- 

 nomic status as a whole, demanded searching and systematic investi- 

 gation; hence they have been made subjects of special research. 



Cock SpaiTOW. (From Yarrell.) 

 The English Sparrow {Passer domesticus).* 



Questions relating to the English Sparrow were contained in the 

 first circular on economic ornithology issued by the Department (in 

 July, 1885). Subsequently these questions were amplified, and dur- 

 ing the current year a special circular and scliedule were prepared, 

 upwards of five thousand copies of which have been distributed. To 

 date, replies have been received from about thirty-two hundred 

 persons. They contain a vast amount of valuable information, which 

 is now being collated for publication. In order to be able in future 

 years to determine the rate of spread of the Sparrow over regions 

 which it does not now occupj^, the Department has ascertained, with 

 as much precision as possible, the exact limits of its distribution at 

 the present time, and has shown the same by means of the accom- 

 panying colored map. In addition to the material collected by the 

 Department of Agriculture, the American Ornithologists' Union has 

 turned over to the division the results of its investigations, begun in 

 1883, on the eligibility or ineligibility of the Euroj^ean House Spar- 

 row in America. This material has been since collated and arranged 

 by Dr. F. H. Hoadley, who, from interest in the subject, kindly volun- 

 teered his services. 



In advance of the publication of the special bulletin on the English 

 Sparrow question, which will contain in detail the evidence on which 

 the following statements are based, it is thought desirable at the 



*The time name of this bird is the " House SpaiTow." 'The name " English Spar- 

 row ■' is a mianomer, as the species is not confined to England, but is native to 

 nearly the whole of Em-ope.' The fact that most of the birds brought to America 

 came from England explains the origm of the misleading name by which it is now 

 so widely and universally known that any attempt to change it would be futile. 



