No.2.\ COUES ON PASSEE DOMESTICUS. 191 



1878. PuRDiE, H. A. The Sparrows [Passer domesticus]. <^ Evening Transcript, Mar. 

 19, 1878. 



Covering a copy of The Country of February 23, 1878, -wliicli contained the full report of the 

 Xuttall Club's proceedings, Mr. J. A. Allen's testimony having been omitted from the report 

 as published in Boston. Mr. Allen's testimony follows. 



1878. PuRDlE, H. A. The "English Sparrow" [Passer domesticus] iu Bo.ston. 



<^Massacluisetts PIou(/hman, Jttly 20, 1878. 

 A column of testimony in the matter of the Orgyia leucostigma. It is evident from this 



that the Sparrows are not efficient in destroying this noxious insect. The writer states, 



further, that the apparent attacks of the Sparrows upon the cocoons were not to devour the 



contents, but the spiders and certain parasites, which are the natirral foes of the tussock 



moth! 

 1878. PuRDiE, H. A. " History repeating itself." ^C^ Boston Advertiser, Jnlj 16, 1878. 

 Adopting Dr. Brewer's epigrammatic title for the fact that what had been observed a year 



before respecting abund.ance of Orgyvi leucostigma might be verified by any one who would 



now examine the shade-trees of Boston. 



1878. Riley, C. V. Anent the English Si>arroTVS [Passer domesticits]. <^£rening 

 Star (Washington, D. C), Dec. 25, 1878; Pacific Bural Press, Jan. 25, 1879; 

 and several other reprints. 



A letter to Major J. W. Twining, Bistrict Commissioner, conveying important evidence 

 against the Sparrows, from a well-known expert iu economic entomology. It appears that 

 whatever good the Sparrows may have done by destroying canker-worms is more than coun- 

 terbalanced by the room thus made for the increase of even more destructive insects. The 

 article gives new and valuable testimony from an authoritative source, and should be care- 

 fully considered. 



1878. Roosevelt, R. B. Spare the Sparrow [Passer domesticus]. < Forest and Stream, 

 Oct. 10, 1878. 



The five categories of persons who defend the Sparrow, as set forth by E. Cones, seem to 

 have made an impression on this gentleman, who, without saying to which one he may be- 

 long, begins his .article thus : " I lately saw an article from Dr. Cones, iu which he renews his 

 abuse of the sparrow, or, to speak more accurately, of those who approve the sparrow. He 

 divides the advocates and supporters of the foreign little bird into five classes, four of which 

 he calls idiots, and the fifth weak-minded. This is a very powerful and almost conclusive 

 argument against the sparrows." But Mr. Hoosevelt may be reminded that no such epithets 

 occur in E. Coues's article. The writer goes on with a very pleasant, gossipy article in favor 

 of the Sparrows, in a rather amiable and courteous than logical or convincing strain. 



1878. Smith, Everett. The Sparrow [Passer domesticus] Pest. < The Conntry, 

 i. Feb. 9, 1878, p. 213. 



Contrasting the good condition of shade-trees protected by coal-tar with the state of those 

 left to perish by being entrusted to the attentions of the Sparrows. ' ' My observations of the 

 habits of these birds in their native homes led me to the belief that for a pest we might be 

 rid of through other means we should substitute a pest that it would be extremely difficult, 

 if not impossible, ever to get rid of— and that is the sparrow pest." 



1878. "Suburb." A Word for the Sparrows [Passer domesticus]. <^ Evening Tran- 

 script (Boston, Mass.), Feb. 26, 1878. 



Statement of his impressions respecting the is^uttall Club, and his indifference in the mat- 

 ter. "To the average human being, it is of no consequence whether the bird in front of hia 

 house is called a EringiUa or a Chinchilla; what he wants is a bird." 



1878. The Sparrow [Passer domesticus] in America. < TJnTcnoivn paper, 



aboitt August, 1878. 

 Abridged from E. Coues's article in the American Iv'aturalist for August, 1878. 



1878. The Sparrow [Passer domesticus] Nuisance. <_ Times and Dispatch (Read- 

 ing, Pa.), vol. xli. No. 109, Aug. 8, 1878. 



Editorial excerpts from E. Coues's article in The American IsTaturalist for August, 1878. 

 "Tlie array of charges brought against that quarrelsome alien is overwhelming. The Lan- 

 caster New Era, from which we quote, says 'no man either in this country or elsewhere is 

 more competent to discuss the question than I)r. Coues, and what he says we are willing to 

 accept as authority. His words will have more weight among naturalists than all the siUy 

 sentimentality wliich the host of ignorant people who have discussed the sparrow (luestion 

 have brought forward. ' " The gist of Dr. Coues's recommendations upon the subject completes 

 tbe article. 



