1891.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 4. 49 



balance had subsisted on cereals and the buds and blossoms 

 of fruit trees, and on numerous garden products. Now, 

 there is one thing which you will often hear asserted by per- 

 sons who attempt to defend the English sparrow. They 

 say, "You naturalists will never investigate the food of 

 young birds. Sparrows feed their young exclusively on in- 

 sects, hence are highly beneficial." Now, I will state that 

 the English sparrow, and in fact all birds, with a few excep- 

 tions (we have exceptions to nearly all rules), feed their 

 young on an animal diet. The sparrow is not an exception 

 to this rule. Young English sparrows are fed in part on 

 different forms of insect life, but, as I have already told 

 3'OU, the adult birds not only feed their young, but them- 

 selves eat, a vast amount of vegetable matter, and the bird 

 should be destroyed. 



Mr. Lynde. Will you tell the audience how long it is 

 since the English sparrow was introduced into this country, 

 and what is the extent of the territory which they now cover? 



Dr. Warren. The English sparrow was introduced into 

 this country some twenty or twenty-five years ago, and it is 

 now found in all inhabited portions of the United States. It 

 is also found in Mexico and in Canada, and throughout North 

 America generally. 



Mr. Lynde. Can you tell about how many were intro- 

 duced ? 



Dr. Warren. I think a dozen, fifteen or twenty. They 

 increase with astonishing rapidity. 



Mr. Lynde. And those twenty birds have multiplied to 

 such an extent that they have spread all over North America? 



Dr. Warren. Well, to a large extent. Of course these 

 birds were introduced at different times. I think I am cor- 

 rect in saying that some were introduced on the Pacific 

 coast, they were introduced into the Southern States, and 

 into New York and Boston. I know that about twelve were 

 introduced into our State, and they are there by millions at 

 this time. The English sparrow raises at least two broods a 

 year, sometimes three, and each brood consists of five to 

 seven birds. Thus one pair of sparrows will produce in a 

 year from eighteen to twenty birds. 



Mr. Lynde. They are grain-eating birds, are they not? 



