OF VIRGINIA 221 
INTRODUCED BREEDER. 
Passer domesticus (Linneus). English Sparrow. 
[ House Sparrow ]. 
This common pest needs no introduction to any of our 
readers, as I feel sure every one knows at least this bird. 
For the information of a certain class of readers I 
will state, however, that the “English Sparrow’* was 
imported from England to Brooklyn, N. Y., in the fall 
of 1850, by the directors of the Brooklyn Institute, 
notably Don. Nicolas Pike, eight pair being the first 
shipment. These eight pair didn’t thrive well, and in 
1852 another lot was introduced which managed to secure 
a foothold. Now they are in nearly every state and 
territory in the United States. I find them abundant 
even on the islands off our coast; nesting sites varying 
from woodpecker holes in trees to the usual one in the 
rain spout of the house. In favorable localities one may 
find nests with either eggs or young seven months out of 
twelve. The eggs are grayish-white, spotted, specked, or 
blotched with blackish. Size, .85x.71. Four to six eggs 
is a full set with us. The nest is composed of dry grass, 
weeds, straw, and trash, such as paper, rags, string, ete., 
lined with feathers and other soft materials they happen 
to find. I consider them a pest, to be destroyed on all 
occasions. Now and then we see them eating some grub, 
worm, or caterpillar, but as a whole they do more damage 
than good, and drive away many of the more beneficial 
birds. 
“The English Sparrow in North America, U. S. Dept. of Agyri- 
eulture, Division of Economic Ornithology and Mammalogy, Bulletin 
No. 1. 
