AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 137 



the other morning, when both the Robins were away, the English 

 vSparrows came to the nest and sucked all the eggs; I tell you, those 

 little rascals are thieves and murderers among the birds and I think 

 they ought to be exterminated." 



The same spring a boy in the neighborhood made and put up a 

 Martin house in the University campus. A pair of Tree Swallows 

 immediately began building in one of the compartments. I noticed 

 English Sparrows trying to mob them, and soon nothing more was 

 seen of the Swallows. On climbing up to see what was the matter and 

 clean out the Sparrows' nests, we found the male Swallow with his 

 head nearly bitten off in one of the compartments. Up 20 feet from 

 the ground in a small box, there was no other explanation possible, 

 except that a Sparrow had caught the Swallow and killed him. Since 

 then, I have lost a pair of Tree Swallows under similar circumstances, 

 and small children about the place picked up the male dead, but I did 

 not see the body and was unable to learn whether it showed marks of 

 violence. 



The same spring, 1897, a pair of Bluebirds began to nest in one of 

 houses in the garden. The Sparrows attacked them in numbers, but as 

 the Bluebirds seemed to be holding their own, I waited to observe the 

 outcome. As I came come one day I saw the male Bluebird and a 

 male Sparrow clinch among the higher branches of the tree and fall to 

 the ground together. I ran to the spot and found the Bluebird limp 

 with tail and wings spread wide, while under him was the Sparrow 

 chewing at his throat. I caught both birds in my hand and pinched 

 the Sparrow's head off to make him let go. The Bluebird quickly re- 

 covered and, no Sparrows being allowed on the premises after that, he 

 helped to rear three broods that season. 



One morning in the following May, a bright little boy came to ask 

 what kind of a house he should make for a Bluebird, and said that there 

 was a pair in his garden and he thought they might stay, if he gave 

 them a house. A few days later he came again to tell me that the 

 Bluebirds were making a nest in his house, and in a few days more he 

 reported four blue eggs in the nest. His next call was about six 

 o'clock in the morning and his first words were, "Have you got any 

 shot cartridges for a 22 rifle? The English Sparrows have gone into 

 my Bluebird's house and broken all the eggs and the Bluebirds have 

 gone away. I want to shoot every English Sparrow I can find." I 

 gave him all the cartridges I had. 



The question is not whether the English Sparrow may or may not 

 eat a few insects, but rather whether they destroy more valuable birds. 



Dr. C. F. Hodge. 



