1SS4.I Afec/it/i;- of //if Amrriraii <)ni////i>/oois/s' IT n ion. 373 



plctcd fonu. The reading of this part of the report (by Dr. 

 Coucs) occupied an hour and a half, and was followed by the 

 report (read by Mr. Ridgvvay) on species and subspecies, includ- 

 ing- the generic changes, and presenting the list as it will finall}' 

 appear, waiving such questions of synonym}' as are yet to be 

 decided. The report was accepted and adopted unanimously, 

 and recommitted to the Committee, with instructions to complete 

 it and submit it to tlie Council as soon as practical)le, the 

 Council being empowered and instructed to accept and adopt the 

 report as finally rendered, with such changes and modifications 

 •as they may deem necessary, and to publish the same, under 

 copyright, in part or in whole, in one or more forms, in the name 

 and under the auspices of the American Ornithologists' Union. 

 The reading and acceptance of the repoit concluded the proceed- 

 ings of the first day's session. 



At the second day's session the report of the Committee 'On 

 the Eligibility or Ineligibility of the European House Sparrow 

 in America,' was then presented by the Chairman of the Com- 

 mittee, Dr. J. B. Holder. The Committee, immediately after its 

 appointment, issued a circular letter embodying a series of ques- 

 tions framed to elicit as fully as possible information regarding the 

 habits of this bird. The circular was lai-gely distributed among 

 agriculturists, gardeners, and persons of known ability and unbi- 

 ased judgment in respect to results of observation and experiment. 

 While an attempt was made to gain information concerning the 

 bird's history and its present geographical distribution in this 

 country, the main question called for a fair expression of facts 

 respecting whether the bird was directly or indirectly beneficial to 

 agriculture and horticulture. The twenty-eight questions em- 

 braced in the circular called for data respecting its present numbers 

 and its rate of increase ; the number of bi-oods and number of young 

 to the brood ; its protection by law ; to what extent fostered and fed 

 by man ; its habits with reference to other birds ; its ability and 

 disposition to injure fruit, vegetables, and field cereals ; its food, 

 whether vegetable or insect, both in respect to the nestlings and 

 adult, and the kinds of insects destroyed ; whether known to feed 

 upon the vapor moth ( Orgyia leiicostigma) , and ichnuemon flies, 

 and to what extent ; and whether the observations reported rested 

 upon actual observation and dissection. The large number of re- 

 turns received bear overwhelmingly against the Sparrow. There 



