188 BULLETIN UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. [Voir. 



1878. COUES, E.— Continued. 



business they ■were imported to uo. 2. Tiey attack, liarass, tight against, dispossess, drive 

 away, and sometiaies actually iiiil various of oiir native birds which are much more insectivo- 

 rous by nature than themselves, and which might do us better service if they were equally 

 encouraged. 3. They commit great depredations ia the kitchen-garden, the orchard, and the 

 grain-field. 4. They are personally ohnoxious and unpleasant to many persons. 5. They have, 

 at present, practically, no natural enemies, nor any check whatever ux^on limitless increase. 

 One suggestion and two recommendations are made. The suggestion is, to make the experi- 

 ments obviously necessary to determine exactly what the birds eat in this country : to exam- 

 ine the stomachs of say five hundred sparrows, killed in places infested with noxious insects, 

 at the height of the season, and see if insects form any considerable portion of their food. 

 The recommendations are: I. Let the birds shift for themselves; that is, stop feeding them, 

 take down the boxes, put them on the same footing as other birds. II. Abolish the legal pen- 

 alties for kiliing them. The article was several times rejjrinted, and reproduced lq editorial 

 abridgment by tlie press of the country at large. 



1878. COUES, E. Tlie Ineligibility of tlie European House Sparrow [Passer domesti- 

 cus] in America. <^ The Chicago Field, Aug. 31, 187S. 

 In full from The American iTaturalist, xii. No. 8, August, 1878, q. v. 



1878. CouES, E. Tlie Ineligibility of tlte European House Sparrow [Passer domesti- 

 cus] in America. < The Country (N. Y.), Aug. 3, 1878, pp. 233, 234. 

 Keprinted in full from The American Katuralist for August, 1S7S. 



1878. DixwELL, J. Sparrows [Passer domesticus]. <^ Boston Daily Advertiser, about 

 Mar. 7, 1878. 



Apologizing for "aU real or imaginary insults" T. M. Brewer may have been offered by the 

 publication of the results of dissection of 39 Sparrows in whose gizzards no insects were found. 



1878. Editor. The Englisli Sparrow [Passer domesticus]. <^ Forest and Stream, Apr. 

 18, 1878. 



Editorial note, presenting to favorable notice a letter from J. Akhurst defending the Spar- 

 row. It is the same letter which appeared in the Boston Journal, Mar. 15, 1878. 



1878. Editor. The Sj)arrow [Passer domesticus]. <C^ Massachusetts Ploughman, Aug. 

 3, 1S78. 



Extracts from .an article by H. Hagen, which appeared in the American Agriculturist, favor- 

 able to the Sparrows. 



1878. Editor. Sparrows [Passer domesticus] and Skylarks. <^ Forest and Stream, :si. 

 Dec. 19, 1878, p. 406. 

 Their introduction on Long Island. 



1878. Elliot, D. G. American [SpizeUa socialis] vs. English Sparrows [Passer do- 

 mesticus]. <^ Forest and Sti-eam, Aug. 15, 1878. 

 Narrating an encounter in which the former worsted the latter. 



1878. "Fruit Buds." Those English Sparrows [Passer domesticus]. < T/ie Fost 

 (Washington, D. C), Mar. 22, 1378. 



Molestation of native birds, and destruction of fruit, by the "little pests known as English 

 Sparrows." 



1878. Gentry, T. G. The | House Sparrow | at | Home and Abroad, | with some | con- 

 cluding remarks upon its usefulxtess, | and | copious references to the litera- 

 ture of the subject. | By | Thomas G. Gentry, | [etc., 5 lines.] | Philadelphia: 

 I Claxton, Eemsen, and Haffelfinger. | 1878. 1 vol. 8vo. pp. iii-viii, 9-128, 

 with colored frontisp. pi. of Passer domesticus <? $ . 



One of the good results of the controversy has been the appearance of this work, in which 

 the whole subject is set forth at full length, in clear light, with every regard for impartiality. 

 Mr. Gentry's careful and critical survey of the situation renders his presentation of the case 

 conclusive. All the charges that have been brought against tiie Sparrow are discussed and 

 substantiated, while due weight is given to the other side of the question. It is a very useful 

 book, which should be widely circulated. The following are the main heads : Introduction 

 (classiflcatory, etc.), p. 9. The Sparrow in Europe, p. 14. The Sparrow in America, p. 33. 

 Evidence, both positive and negative (i. e. for and against), of the Sparrows' usefulness in 

 America, p. 74'. Concluding remarks, p. 90. Appendix (bibliography), p. 113. 



