THE ENGLISH SPARROW AS A PEST. 



INTRODUCTION. 



DISTRIBUTION. 



The English sparrow was introduced into America a little more 

 than 60 years ago, and is now distributed over nearly all of the 

 United States and southern Canada. This rapid dissemination is a 

 result of the bird's hardiness, extraordinary fecundity, diversity of 

 food, aggressive disposition, and almost complete immunity from 

 natural enemies. 



ECONOMIC STATUS. 



The English sparrow among birds, like the rat among mammals, 

 is cunning, destructive, and filthy. Its natural diet consists of seeds, 

 but it eats a great variety of other foods. While much of its fare 

 consists of waste material from the streets, in autumn and winter it 

 consumes quantities of weed seed and in summer numerous insects. 

 The destruction of weed seed should undeniably count in the spar- 

 row's favor. Its record as to insects in most localities is not so 

 clear. In exceptional cases it has been found very useful as a de- 

 stroyer of insect pests. For example, during a recent investigation 

 by this bureau of birds that destroy the alfalfa weevil in northern 

 Utah, English sparrows were feeding their nestlings largely on 

 weevil larvae and cutworms, both of which are very injurious to 

 alfalfa. In this case the sparrows, attracted by grain in the fields 

 and poultry runs and by the excellent nest sites afforded by the 

 thatched roofs of many farm buildings, had left the city and taken 

 up their abode in the country where the weevil outbreak subsequently 

 occurred. Unfortunately, however, farmers can rarely expect such 

 aid against their insect foes. Wherever this bird proves useful, how- 

 ever, it is entitled to protection and encouragement in proportion to 

 its net value. 



Under normal conditions its choice of insects is often unfavorable. 

 Out of 522 English sparrow stomachs examined by the Biological 

 Survey, 1 47 contained noxious insects, 50 held beneficial insects, and 



1 T T . S. Department of Agriculture, Division of Economic Ornithology and Mammalogy, 

 Bulletin 1, The English Sparrow in North America, p. 143, 1889. An exhaustive account 

 now out of print. 



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