°i8q6 J Jl t dd, Food of the English Sf arrow and Crow. 287 



causing heavy losses in oat and wheat fields, pulling elm and 

 peach blossoms to pieces, and flocking into the horticulturists' 

 precincts to feast upon cherries, grapes, raspberries, and other 

 fruits. Like most of our common birds the Sparrow derives a 

 part of its sustenance from the animal world. Prof. Barrows has 

 shown that insects of several orders, representing dozens of fami- 

 lies, and hundreds of species, have been eaten by the Sparrow. 

 Insects that fly in a zigzag course are more liable to escape birds 

 than those that fly straight away. During August, 1895, in Wash- 

 ington, I have seen on several occasions a Sparrow pursue, capture, 

 and eat piecemeal a cicada, which is a swift insect that takes 

 a beeline course. On the other hand it is only after many unsuc- 

 cessful attempts that a moth or flying grasshopper is caught in 

 its hither and thither course. Common flies and wasps dodge an 

 enemy. The same is true of the dragonfly (Libellula) . I remem- 

 ber seeing a Sparrow dart from above and then from below, and 

 then flutter up at one of these insects on the ' College yard ' in 

 Cambridge. Finally, after five minutes of fruitless attempts, the 

 Sparrow, more by chance than skill, struck the dodging insect 

 which fell disabled to the ground. 



The Washington Sparrow finds it more profitable to breakfast 

 on the insects that have been killed or disabled by electric lights. 

 In the early morning during April and May he comes to the lamps 

 to eat May beetles, and small predaceous ground beetles (Cara- 

 bidae). The entomologist, who visits the lamps after the Sparrows, 

 finds only the hard wing covers (elytra) of the beetle he had 

 hoped to collect. In spite of the insectivorous habits the Sparrow 

 is branded a nuisance, because he pillages crops, disfigures build- 

 ings, and disturbs the peace by his never flagging, monotonous 

 chirp. 



Prof. Barrows, beside exposing the true character of the English 

 Sparrow, has also dealt with the Crow in an economic manner. 

 On page 22 of Bull. 6, U. S. Department of Agriculture, he 

 describes a ' roost ' at Arlington, Va., where every winter night 

 over 100,000 Crows sleep. About their lodgings were found pel- 

 lets which had been disgorged. These pellets consisted of seeds 

 held together by sand. The most common of these seeds were, — 

 dogwood, sour-gum, smilax, red-cedar, poison ivy, poison sumach, 



