320 CONNECTICUT GEOL. AND NAT. HIST. SURVEY. [BuU. 



causes to buildings and statues in cities, there is no escape from 

 the conclusion that the bird is a serious pest, the extermination 

 of which would be an unmixed blessing." ( Judd, " The Relation 

 of Sparrows to Agriculture.") 



As will be seen from these statistics, almost the entire food 

 of this bird is vegetable food and this is taken chiefly from grow- 

 ing crops. It is known to inflict serious injury on grain, including 

 rye, wheat, barley, rice, oats, and corn; green vegetables, includ- 

 ing peas, cabbages, and tender shoots; fruits and berries, such 

 as pears, apples, peaches, grapes, figs, cherries, and currants ; and 

 on buds, blossoms, and foliage of all sorts. Not content with 

 this it attacks our native birds, preempts the breeding places of 

 some, and enters the homes of Martins, Swallows, Bluebirds, 

 and Wrens, destroys their eggs or young, and rears its own brood 

 in their place. Professor Barrows gives a list of 75 species of 

 our native birds which English Sparrows have been reported to 

 molest, among which are 377 diflferent records of their attacking 

 the Bluebird, 182 on the Robin, 191 on different Wrens, 440 on 

 Swallows and Martins, and 273 on other Sparrows. That its 

 habits have not improved in recent years, an investigation made 

 by Mr. Charles K. Reed in 1904 shows. Of over 100 postals and 

 many letters received regarding this bird only four were in its 

 favor. (" American Ornithology," Vol. 4, p. 130.) 



Still another count in the grave indictment against this species 

 has been proven by Mr. H. E. Ewing in The Auk for July, 191 1 ; 

 and he reaches the following conclusions : " The English Sparrow 

 frequently harbors and is the host of one of our worst, if not 

 the worst, of poultry pests, the chicken louse or chicken mite, 

 Dermanyssus gallince Redi. Sparrows become repeatedly in- 

 oculated with these mites from the chicken roosts, because of 

 their habit of lining their nests with poultry feathers, many of 

 which have lice upon them, shaken off of the infested chickens 

 when wallowing in the dust, etc. Sparrow nests, when built in 

 the vicinity of chicken roosts, upon becoming deserted may leave 

 hundreds or thousands of lice, to seek food and shelter elsewhere. 

 These individuals being very active on their feet, and able to 

 sustain themselves for several days away from a host, may 

 travel distances and infest new chicken houses. 



