BIRDS OF THE WEST 59 



Wings and tail nearly black. Bill strong and very thick. White 

 patches on wings and more or less brownish on sides. 



593. CARDINAL GROSBEAK. Cardinalis cardinalis. About 

 nine inches long. Cardinal except around the beak which is black. 

 Viery thick and strong beak. Well crested. Rare in this latitude. 



515a. PINE GROSBEAK. Pinicola enucleator montana. About 

 eight inches long. Red with brown extremities. Wings tipped with 

 dull white. Has a strong beak which is the distinguishing mark of 

 grosbeaks. 



ENGLISH SPARROW. 



He does not require six months in which to establish a resi- 

 dence, for he is at home anywhere and everywhere. If he should 

 increase as rapidly during the next fifty years as he has in the 

 last ten years it will keep him busy finding a place to roost. He 

 seems to have unlimited resources. He will build a nest in a little 

 less than no time and often one cock sparrow will have two new nests 

 under way before his first one is finished. If lady sparrows were 

 hens there would be millions in the poultry business for they are 

 regular little sleight-of-wing performers when it comes to produc- 

 ing eggs; and very likely they could produce eggs from your hat 

 or your pockets if they wanted to. 



They were introduced into this country to eat the worms atd 

 bugs from the trees in eastern parks. They have done their work, 

 and done it well, but the question remains unanswered "What can 

 now be introduced to eat the sparrows f" The remedy seems al- 

 most as bad as the disease. 



You cannot help admiring this little disciple of Roosevelt, 

 for, first of all, he is a fighter from Scraptown and is bound to 

 have peace if he has to fight for it. He will kill his brother in 

 a duel and he will fight as many as eight others at a single time. 

 Once I saw a little sparrow fight his shadow through a window 

 glass until his face swelled up so that his eyes were nearly shut. 

 I afterwards heard that he returned every day, for two weeks to 

 renew the fight. He is a worker from Busyville too. Let down 

 an awning and often a nest with eggs will tumble out. It makes 

 little difference to them, however, for work will begin at once on 

 another nest. They will build in trees, barns, vines, in a deserted 

 woodpecker's hole, in a hole in a sandbank and in a multitude 

 of other places. They have no fear of wind nor weather and dur- 



