242 KEPORT OP THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



the oats in the barracks and destroyed all that was exposed. Sugar and field corn 

 when "-reen are very much damaged by them. They tear the ends of the ears and eat 

 the corn in the same manner as Crows. 



Dr. B. Harry Warren, State ornithologist of Pennsylvania, writes: 

 The Sparrow greatly damages the corn crop, tearing open the husks, devouring 

 the tender part of the ear, and exposing the remainder to the ravages of insects and 

 to atmospheric changes. It alights on fields of wheat, oats, and barley, consuming 

 a large quantity, and, by swaying to and fro on the slender stalks and fiapping its 

 wings showers "the remainder on the ground. 



Mr, S. M. Clark, of the District of Columbia, states: 



The Sparrows stripped my entire crop of pearl millet, not leaving a kernel on the 

 ear, 



Mr. Robert Ridgway, ornithologist of the United States National 

 Museum, writes: 



In the summer of 1886 I saw flocks of hundreds of English Sparrows feeduig on 

 grain in stacks in Prince William County, Virginia; have also seen the same else- 

 where. 



Mr. Frank S. Piatt, of New Haven, Conn., writes. 



Cradled a small piece of oats, and the S])arrows gathered on the shocks in such 

 flocks that I sliot fifty-four with one barrel and thhty-five with the otlier. In our 

 seed gardens wo had 'to keep a boy all the time to jirevent waste of turnip, cabbage, 

 and other seeds. 



Mr. John Cordeaux, the veteran ornithologist of England, says he 

 has seen acres of grain which had the appearance of having been 

 thrashed with a flail after it had been invaded by the Sparrows. 



Already the English SjDarrow has invaded the rice fields in certain 

 parts of the South, where it threatens to rival the Bobolink in the 

 extent of its ravages. Indeed, one j)lanter writes from Plaquemines 

 Parish, Louisiana, that it is more destructive now than the Rice-bird 

 or Blackbird. 



Effect on architecture, and defilement of buildings. 



" That the Sparrow exerts a very appreciable influence on architectiu"e can be read- 

 ily observed in the modifications which its presence has rendered necessary in cor- 

 nices, gables, jutting portions of roofs, and the various devices made use of in the 

 elaboration and embellishuaent of edifices, both i^ublic and private." — (Hoadley MS 



In addition to the disfigurement of buildings by the nests and ex- 

 crement of the Sparrows, and the injury to ornamental trees and 

 shrubs resulting from the same cause, it should be mentioned that 

 they frequently damage and sometimes destroy the ivy and woodbine 

 covering the walls of churches and other edifices. 



Mr. Robert Ridgway, of the Smithsonian Institution, says: 



The Sparrows injure ornamental vines, &c. , by chemical action of their excre- 

 ment. The luxuriant English ivy that once covered portions of the Smithsonian 

 building was thus totally destroyed by them. 



Mr. Eli Whitney Blake, 3d, of Providence, R. I., writes: 



The sexton of St. John's church, in. this city, took 970 eggs and two cart-loads of 

 nests at one time from the ivy covering the walls of that church. 



Failure of the Sparroiv as an insect-destroyer. 



The English Sparrow was brought to this country in the belief that 

 it was an insectivorous bird, and with iJie expectation that it would 

 rid our cities of the caterpillars which destroy the foliage of the elms 

 and other shade trees in the streets and parks. The utter futility of 

 this hope has been demonstrated over and over again in hundreds of 



