THE BIRDS OF NEW JERSEY. 145 



tower of the chapel of Greenwood cemetery. They were 

 released in the spring of 1853 and did well. From that 

 time to the year 1881 English Sparrows were imported 

 direct from Europe to various states, the last consign- 

 ment being sent to Iowa City, Iowa, in 1881. Since that 

 time the birds have spread themselves over nearly the 

 whole of the United States and Canada, and there is little 

 doubt that in a few years they will have possession of the 

 entire country. 



The object of the introduction of the English Sparrow 

 was the destruction of insect pests. As destroyers of in- 

 sects they have proven a lamentable failure in this coun- 

 try. All reports concerning them are alike : to-wit, they 

 do very little good and an immense amount of harm . In 

 a number of states bounties have been offered for their 

 destruction, but as there was no concerted action all over 

 the country the diminution in numbers was scarely per- 

 ceptible. The birds destroy fruit and grain, both in the 

 blossom and in the more or less advanced state, and they 

 annoy and drive away large numbers of beneficial birds. 

 The few insects they destroy are but a trifle in the scale 

 when the large number of insectivorous birds driven away 

 by them is considered. 



Government analyses of 522 stomachs showed that 22 

 contained wheat, 327 oats, 71 corn, 57 fruit seed, 102 

 grass seed, 85 weed seed, 219 vegetable matter^ 19 bread, 

 rice, etc., 47 noxious insects, 50 beneficial insects, 31 in- 

 sects of no economic importance. 



The indigenous birds which make war on and destroy 

 the English Sparrow are the Shrike, Purple Grackle, Crow 

 Blackbird, Sparrow Hawk, Screech Owl, Cooper's Hawk 

 and the Sharp-skinned Hawk, but unfortunately some of 

 these also destroy beneficial birds. 



The principal interest in the English Sparrow in this 

 country centers in measures for its destruction. Bounty 

 laws have been tried but proved of little avail for obvious 

 reasons, but in a great many places in this country tho 



