64 BIBDS OF KANSAS. 



Holder, of New York, chairman; Mr. Eugene P. Bicknell, of New York; Mr. H. A. Purdie, of Boston, 

 Mass.; Mr. Nathan Clifford Brown, of Portland, Me.; Mr. Montague Chamberlain, of St. John, New 

 Brunswick; the committee having the power of increasing its membership at its discretion. 



Dr. J. B. Holder, Chairman. 

 American Museum of Natural History, Central Park, New York City, Feb. 2, 1884. 



DATA CONCERNIMG THE EUROPEAN HOUSE SPARROW, FROM 



1. Is the European house sparrow {Passer domesticus) known in your neighborhood, and if so, about 

 when did it appear? 2. Is your neighborhood city, suburbs, or country? 3. Is this sparrow abundant? 

 4. Is it increasing in numbers? 5. How many broods and young, yearly, to a pair? 6. Is this sparrow 

 protected by law? 7. Is it artificially fed and housed? 8. Does it molest, drive away or diminish the 

 numbers of native birds? 9. If so, what species? 10. Does this sparrow injure shade, fruit or orna- 

 mental trees? 11. Does it attack or injure garden fruits and vegetables? 12. Does it injure grain 

 crops? 13. Is it an insect-eater or a seed-eater? 14. What insects, if any, are chiefly eaten by this 

 sparrow? 15. What is the principal food it carries to its young? 16. What insects, if any, are carried 

 by it to its young? 17. Does the food of the old bird vary with the seasons, and if so, in what way? 

 18. Does the food of its young vary, and if so, how? 19. If any insects are eaten, are they beneficial or 

 injurious species? 20. Does the sparrow eat the larvae of the vaporer moth {Orzvia leucostigma)? 

 21. Does it eat ichneumon flies? 22. Do you determine the nature of this bird's food and that furnished 

 by it to its young, by inference, direct observation, or dissection? 23. Have any injurious insects been 

 exterminated or materially lessened in numbers by this sparrow? 24. Have any injurious insects in- 

 creased in numbers, or appeared where unknown before, in consequence of the destruction of other 

 insects by this sparrow? 25. Have these sparrows in your neighborhood been destroyed systematically 

 or otherwise, and if so, by what means? 26. What bounty, if any, has been offered for their destruc- 

 tion? 27. What is the general sentiment or balance of public opinion respecting the European house 

 sparrow in your locality? 28. On the whole, in your judgment, is this sparrow an eligible or ineligible 

 species in this country? 



In order to secure a thorough presentation of the subject to those most likely to 

 respond satisfactorily, each member of the committee assumed the duties of corre- 

 spondence in his own section of the country, as well as in certain allotted sections of 

 the entire United States and Canada. Copies of the letter were sent to the agricul- 

 tural papers, to the various journals having columns devoted to zoological and rural 

 matters, and to the press at large. The greater part, however, was directed to indi- 

 viduals believed to possess facts pertinent to the subject. About one thousand copies 

 were thus sent out. 



A large proportion of the answers received are of one import, written by persons 

 having no definite data to communicate, but who, having experienced annoyance 

 from the bird's uncleanliness and unmusical notes, desire to see it exterminated. 

 Under this head belong the numerous petitions which have reached us from several 

 quarters, notably from Philadelj)hia. The subject is regarded sufficiently important 

 by the inhabitants of that city to warrant the issue of printed forms, which, with 

 long lists of subscribers, have been submitted to the consideration of your commit- 

 tee. The paucity of replies to many of our questions renders it impossible to report 

 upon them decisively. Fortunately, however, others are very fully answered. 



Returns to the first question give some data of interest in relation to the time 

 of the sparrow's first introduction into this country. The earliest date of im- 

 portation known to us is 1858, when Mr. Thomas A. Deblois liberated a few individ- 

 uals at Portland, Me. These disappeared shortly afterward, and were not successfully 

 replaced until 1875. In 1858 sparrows were liberated at Peacedale, R. I., by Mr. 

 Joseph Peace Hazard. They were first introduced into Central Park, New York 

 city, according to Mr. Conklin, the Superintendent of the Menagerie, in the year 

 1864. In 1860 Mr. Eugene Shiefflin turned loose twelve birds in Madison Square, 

 New York city. In 1868 the species was first introduced into Boston Common. In 

 1869 a number were given the liberty of the parks of Philadelphia. Somewhat later 

 a successful attempt was made to establish a colony near Great Salt Lake, Utah, and 

 about the same time the birds became resident at Indianajiolis, Ind. 



In a period of about ten years, the sparrows reached nearly all the large towns 



