THE SPARROW'S USEFULNESS IN AMERICA. 77 



their labors that, two years subsequent to their introduc- 

 tion, hardly a worm was to be seen. Early in 1874, ac- 

 cording to the u Medical Times," another insect foe made 

 its appearance, in the shape of the caterpillar of the 

 rusty -vaporer moth, the Orgyia leucostigma of entomolo- 

 gists. As long as the measuring worms were permitted 

 to rest undisturbed, this caterpillar, which comes rather 

 late, discovered the "struggle for existence" a sharp one, 

 its natural provisions being consumed by the worm. 

 It now finds an ample supply of food, and, consequently, 

 is flourishing and increasing rapidly in numbers. Its 

 hairy integument protects it in a great measure from 

 the sparrow's assaults. Some other bird must be found 

 to exterminate this pest. But inasmuch as the sparrow 

 is a very obstinate and pugnacious little fellow, it is 

 doubtful whether he will permit a stranger to trespass 

 upon his territory. The writer referred to above, says, 

 " At present, very many trees in this city have again put 

 on the familiar woe-begone look of old, hiding their 

 misery with the merest tatters and shreds of leaves. 

 But the new-comer doesn't drop on you? Doesn't he 

 though ? If he does not drop, he crawls, or gets on some 

 way or other, and the man who has felt his long hairs 

 tickling his neck, struck for a fly, and finds in his hand 

 a bare and bursted carcass, on his shirt collar a stain, and 

 down his back a bunch of tickling hairs, will vote the 

 c survival of the fittest,' in its latest form, an unmiti- 

 gated nuisance. " 



At the meeting of the American Association, held 

 August, 1875, Dr. John L. Le Conte, of Philadelphia, 

 asserts that the sparrow does not attack the larva of 

 Orgyia leucostigma^ being doubtless deterred therefrom 

 by the bristles with which it is protected. 



