Birds of Indiana. 937 



It is now to be found in suitable localities in every part of the 

 State. At the close of the year 1886 it was to be found in 35 States 

 and 5 Territories. It has spread very rapidly, reaching west to cen- 

 tral Kansas and Nebraska. From there it followed the railway lines, 

 reaching Pueblo, Col., in 1895, and Denver in the summer of 1896. 

 In March, 1897, it was estimated that less than twenty pairs were to 

 be found in the latter city (Cooke, Birds of Colorado, pp. 99, 100). 



They have proved their enmity to our very best native birds, have 

 lived off the farmers' crops, ruthlessly destroyed fruits and vegetables, 

 and, by reason of their noisy chatter, their dirtiness, and other unde- 

 sirable habits, have made themselves public nuisances. In Indiana, 

 they have occupied many of the nesting sites of the Martin and Blue- 

 bird. From many towns and farms the latter have almost disappeared. 

 The Chipping Sparrow, Eobin, HouseWrens, and Carolina Wrens, and 

 even the Great Crested Flycatcher and Eed-winged Blackbird, hkre 

 been persecuted by them. The United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture has had specific reports from all parts of the United States of 70 

 kinds of native birds it has molested. Of 1,860 complaints received 

 regarding molested birds, more than one-half relate to Martins, Swal- 

 lows, Wrens, and Bluebirds. In the garden they are most destructive 

 to young peas, and in the field, to ripened wheat. As soon as the ten- 

 der pea sprouts are out of the ground, it is not. uncommon for a num- 

 ber of these sparrows to begin at some point in the row and bite off 

 the leaves from every vine, completely destroying the crop. When 

 wheat is ripe, young and old are associated in flocks. They leave town 

 and village for wheat fields, and, breaking down the stalks, feed upon 

 the grain until it is shocked. Then I have known them to eat all 

 accessible grains in the cap, and outside sheaves, and, when the crop 

 was stacked, to live upon the stack until it was threshed and garnered. 

 They also eat oats, barley, rye, and com. Besides these, reports from 

 this State indicate they eat lettuce, cabbage, radish, and beets, par- 

 ticularly the young plants, also their seeds. In the spring they cut off 

 apple blossoms, and later, sometimes eat mellow apples, and juicy 

 pears. They also eat cherries, currants and strawberries. In Indiana, 

 I have found them, of all fruits, to destroy grapes the most. This I 

 find has also been the experience of others. 



The fall of 1896 they began work upon my grapes about August 30. 

 The Delawares were first attacked. Early in the morning they com- 

 menced cutting off the bunches, then gathering upon the ground to eat 

 the fallen fruit. Many also ate grapes from such bunches as they could 

 reach from a perch. The next grapes attacked were the Prentiss, fol- 

 lowing which came the Catawba. There were other kinds, but they did 



