destructive where sparrows are most numerous. The control 

 of this insect is difficult and expensive, as it is a borer, remain- 

 ing most of the time within the wood. Apparently the sparrows 

 do not disturb it, and where they are numerous and native 

 birds are, therefore, scarce, this moth is very injurious, par- 

 ticularly in and around Boston, New York and other large 

 cities. When the moth spreads out into the country, where 

 woodpeckers and other native birds are numerous, it has, thus 

 far, made no headway. Woodpeckers dig into the burrows 

 where the larva hides, and other birds catch it when it leaves 

 its burrow and crawls about on the bark. Had we kept out 

 the sparrow and instead encouraged and attracted other birds 

 into our cities we might have been spared the destruction of 

 many shade trees by the leopard moth. 



The sparrow, however, has many friends who seem to believe 

 that it does only good and no harm whatever. To those who 

 see only one side of the case the various publications on the 

 sparrow are recommended, several volumes of which have been 

 published. Chief among these is Bulletin No. 1 of the Division 

 of Economic Ornithology and Mammalogy of the United States 

 Department of Agriculture, by Walter B. Barrows, entitled the 

 "English Sparrow in North America," a report of more than 

 400 pages. In this bulletin, which was regarded at the time 

 as "the most important treatise ever published upon the 

 economic relations of any bird," evidence regarding the habits 

 and destructiveness of the sparrow was brought together from 

 all parts of the United States and from Europe, Australia and 

 New Zealand. The testimony against the sparrow from all 

 these countries is overwhelming. Two other works devoted 

 entirely to this species had been published previously in the 

 United States, one in 1878 by T. G. Gentry, entitled "The 

 House .Sparrow at Home and Abroad," the other in 1879 by 

 Dr. Elliot Coues, on "The Present Status of Passer domesticus 

 in America, with Special Reference to the Western States and 

 Territories." Since Bulletin No. 1, referred to above, was 

 published other investigations of the sparrow have been made 

 by scientists, and all have resulted unfavorably to the bird, 

 notwithstanding the fact that it devours cotton boll weevils, 

 brown-tail moths and other pests. Baron von Berlepsch, who 

 has established the most successful European experiment sta- 



