THE ENGLISH SPARROW AND THE STARLING. 



147 



cent, of beetles, two per cent, of caterpillars, one per cent, 

 of flying insects, and five per cent, of other things. During 

 the first sixteen days of the nestlings' life, forty per cent, of 

 the food consisted of small grains, forty per cent, of cater 

 pillars, and ten per cent, of small beetles. 



If the sparrow had no greater sin to answer for than that 

 of not destroying a sufficient number of injurious insects, he 

 might be left in peace. But he is charged with a long list of 

 sins of commission that are not so easily condoned. Obser- 

 vations frequently repeated in widely separated localities have 

 established beyond 

 doubt the fact that he 

 habitually destroys, 

 either for food or pleas- 

 ure, the buds and blos- 

 soms of a great variety 

 of fruit, shade, and or- 

 namental trees. On the 

 list of trees and shrubs 

 so attacked we find the 

 peach, pear, grape, plum, 

 cherry, apple, currant, 

 maple, elm, evergreens, 

 orange, lilac, and others. 

 This injury is accom- 

 plished in spring and 



often results in the total destruction of the fruit crop. Not 

 content, however, with nipping the fruits in the bud, the spar- 

 rows continue their attacks later when the fruits are maturing : 

 among the ripe or ripening fruits they so attack we may men- 

 tion grapes, cherries, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, 

 apples, pears, peaches, plums, tomatoes, and currants. The 

 injury to grapes is occasionally quite severe, and that to early 

 apples is particularly vexatious, as they peck holes, similar to 

 that shown in the figure above, in the ripening fruit. Garden 



APPLE PECKED BY ENGLISH SPARROWS. 

 (After Biological Survey.) 



