Vol i907' IV ] Estabrook, The English Sparrow Problem. 129 



its little scolding note was several times heard before the bird itself 

 was captured by the writer. On the 8th two more specimens were 

 captured. On November 10 a single bird was observed in Lake 

 Forest, hopping in a lively manner in a small apple tree. It showed 

 no fear and several times could have been touched with a walking 

 stick. These four specimens, occurring in localities ten miles 

 apart, might suggest a rather general occurrence of these rare 

 stragglers from the north. The only other occurrence of this 

 bird in Illinois, was when Dr. Velie observed it at Rock Island 

 subsequent to 1852. Mr. Wells W. Cooke informs the writer that 

 the bird taken on November 5 may safely be considered the 

 second record for the State. 



THE PRESENT STATUS OF THE ENGLISH SPARROW 

 PROBLEM IN AMERICA. 



BY A. H. ESTABROOK. 



The English Sparrow (Passer domesticus), was introduced into 

 the United States in the fall of 1850. The first few pairs were 

 liberated at Brooklyn, N. Y. In the few years then following, 

 many others were liberated at different cities in the United States, 

 so that by 1875, they had spread over practically the whole area 

 east of the Mississippi. From the time of its introduction, there 

 was a storm of protest from the practical naturalists who foresaw 

 the result of its introduction, from its behavior in other countries. 

 They knew its record in countries where it had been a longer 

 resident. The people who introduced the sparrow believed that 

 it would be an insectivorous bird, and would take care of the 

 canker worm which was then troubling the people very much. 

 The canker worm is no longer a pest, but its destruction by the 

 sparrow is not granted by the ornithologists. E. H. Forbush, in 

 his report on the Gypsy moth states that the sparrow has been 



