62 THE HUMAN SIDE OF BIRDS 



row in the destruction of noxious insects or as a pro- 

 moter of sanitation. 



"The claim that it drives away other birds is 

 largely unfounded. It does not frequent the for- 

 ests, where the native birds are left undisturbed, 

 but clings to human habitation, the more dense the 

 better, where few other birds could safely nest or 

 obtain food even if there were no sparrows. It is a 

 marvellous destroyer of the cutworm and can even 

 rout the moth from its concealment in the grass, 

 which no other bird seems to be able to do. As a 

 consumer of thistle and weed seeds it has no equal 

 except perhaps the quail. In New York City the 

 spring and fall canker worms (geometrid larvae), 

 which formerly defoliated the shade trees, are now 

 so rare that the collector has difficulty in obtaining 

 a specimen for his cabinet. Few insects are safe 

 from the bird. The imported European leopard 

 moth, whose deep boring larvse are nearly immune 

 from destruction, is effectually checked, as the spar- 

 row consumes the moths as they lie prone on the 

 surface of the ground under the electric lights 

 which attracted them the previous night. 



"I suggested starvation as a means of insect con- 

 trol over 25 years ago. The United States Health 

 Service has adopted my suggestion for the purpose 

 of eliminating the rat by advising the storage of 



