THE ENGLISH SPARROW AND THK STARLING. 145 



importations were cheaper. Many immigrants from the Old 

 World cherished the birds on account of their associations 

 with the scenes of early life ; and native Americans encour- 

 aged them because of their supposed insectivorous habits, 

 or from the desire to have birds to enliven city streets and 

 premises. Without stopping to inquire the reasons for the 

 hospitalities they received, the sparrows made the mos* of 

 their opportunities and throve apace. From the time of 

 their first general introduction to the present, says Professor 

 Barrows, "the marvellous rapidity of the sparrow multiplica- 

 tion, the surprising swiftness of its extension, and the pro- 

 digious size of the area it has overspread are without parallel 

 in the history of any bird. Like a noxious weed transplanted 

 to a fertile soil, it has taken root and become disseminated 

 over half a continent before the significance of its presence 

 has come to be understood." 



After the little foreigner had been coddled through the 

 trying period of acclimation and had taken possession of the 

 country, the popular mind underwent a revulsion of feeling 

 towards him. He was declared a nuisance because of his 

 noise, reviled as a humbug, and shot for being a poacher. 

 But the sparrow kept on, like a true Anglo-Saxon, in the 

 even tenor of his way. In many places he suffered severely, 

 but he was so thoroughly disseminated and his fecundity was 

 so great that any loss man could inflict was of little conse- 

 quence to his race. Of late years there is less heard against 

 him than formerly, and it seems as if the people are at last 

 in the mood to make the best of a bad bargain. 



As regards food habits of the English sparrow, it is defi- 

 nitely known that the adult birds eat a few insects, cater- 

 pillars, moths, beetles, etc., and that the young are fed quite 

 largely on insects. In the country and the suburbs of towns, 

 they may often be seen searching the fields for grasshoppers 

 and other insects, while feeding young, as assiduously as even 

 the chipping-sparrow. 



10 



