316 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



destro3"s them, and that there is also a parasite which lays its 

 figgs in their bodies. I do not think we sluiU have one-twentieth 

 part of these worms the present year that we had the last. 



Mr. P. G-. Bergen differed from some of the views expressed by 

 Dr. Gardner. The sparrows I do not think are worm-eaters, aa 

 they belong to the hard billed class, which are seed-eaters. 

 Only soft billed birds are worm-eaters. In some parts of Europe 

 a price was put upon their heads, and that tens of thousands 

 were every j'ear destroyed. 



Rev. Mr. Weaver, of Fordham. — I would not recommend im» 

 porting sparrows, because they are a nuisance in England, where, 

 although they are so plenty, they do not prevent great ravages of 

 worais, which are as bad there as here. I would, however, pro- 

 tect our native birds in town and country. 



Wm. S. Carpenter. — At the Shaker settlement at Watervliet, the 

 discharge of a gun is not allowed, and the birds have learned to 

 know that they are there protected, and flock in from the sur- 

 rounding country, and there worms and other noxious insects 

 are scarce. We ought to have stringent laws to protect birds. 



Peter G. Bergen. — We have such laws, but we cannot enforce 

 them. We have got to teach the people the value of birds, and 

 why they should not be destroyed. 



Dr. Trimble. — Although there are several real insect eaters 

 among the family of American birds, I don't think there is any 

 one but the wren that can be made useful in cities. Swallows 

 are real flj^-catchers. Sparrows are seed birds. 



Mr. Carpenter moved tliat a vote of thanks be presented to . 

 Dr. Gardner, and that a copy of the paper be requested for 

 publication in the Transactions, which was adopted. 



Dr. Gardner thanked the Club for the manner in which his 

 paper had been received. I know the sparrows feed on seeds, 

 but when seeds are hard to be procured, they will feed their 

 young on small worms, and consume a great quantity. 



The subject of the day was called up — " The Neglected Fruit 

 of our Country, and Flowers." 



Mr. A. S. Fuller, of* Brooklyn. — " It is the province of the 

 pomologist to cultivate the various fruits that have been, and are 

 still being collected, from all parts of the world. But it is his 

 duty, in payment for those he now enjoys, to bestow a portion 

 of his time and skill in improving the indigenous fruits of his 

 own country. But, judging from the indifference with which the 



