2 86 Judd, Food of the English Sparroxv and Crow. lot 



interesting facts that Prof. Barrows has presented in such admira- 

 ble form. First I shall speak about the destruction of dandelion 

 seeds. In May, 1894, at Cambridge, Mass., and during the last 

 two springs here in Washington, Sparrows have been observed 

 eating dandelion seeds. 



After the yellow petal-like corollas have disappeared, the flower 

 presents an elongated, egg-shaped green body with a downy tuft 

 at the upper end. It is in this stage of the flower cycle, that the 

 dandelion suffers from the attacks of the English Sparrow. The 

 bird removes several of the scales of the inner involucre by a 

 clean cut close to the receptacle, thus exposing the plumed seeds, 

 or, more properly speaking, achenes. He seizes a mouthful of 

 them between the plume and seeds, and then by a cut of the bill 

 the plumes are lopped off, while the seeds are swallowed. In 

 many cases, especially when hunger presses, the trouble of remov- 

 ing plumes is not taken. The Sparrow generally drops a score of 

 seeds in tearing open a flower, and usually leaves the few seeds 

 that cling to the periphery of the receptacle. The mutilation 

 caused by the Sparrow's beak can be detected until the flower 

 stalk dries and falls. 



On the 29th of last April, I picked every dandelion flower 

 stalk from a circle six feet in diameter on the grounds of the 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture, where the lawn had a week pre- 

 vious been yellow with the flowers. One hundred and thirty-five 

 of the stalks showed the unmistakable mark of the Sparrow's bill. 

 More than half of the dandelions that bloomed in April on the 

 lawns of the U. S. Department of Agriculture were damaged by 

 Sparrows. 



Later in the season, Sparrows feast upon the seeds of crab grass 

 (Panicum sanguinale), which grows in profusion about Washington. 

 The seeds of another crab grass (Eleusiiie), not included in Prof. 

 Barrow's list, were taken from a stomach in June, 1895. In early 

 spring the Sparrow often may be seen eating the first tender 

 blades of grass. I have also seen it eating the leaves of Cheli- 

 donium ma jus. In Cambridge and Washington the Sparrows often 

 subsist to quite an extent upon the seeds of chickweed {Stella/ na 

 and Cerastiicm) . 



Along with hundreds of other observers I have seen Sparrows 



