THE OOLOGIST. 



105 



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Levi W. Mengel, 

 Boys' High School, 

 Reading, Pa. 



THE ENGLISH SPARROW. 



From Prof. Estabrook of Clark 

 Univ. we have received a reprint from 

 the "Auk," Vol. XXIV, No. 2.; that is 

 of sufficient interest to warrent using 

 it in full as below. It is self-explana- 

 tory. 



Editorially we would endorse, as ! we 

 practice, the most drastic measures. 



The Present Status of the English 



Sparrow Problem in America. 



By A. H. Estabrook. 



The Englsh Sparrow (Passer domes- 

 ticus,) was introduced into the Unit- 

 ed States in the fall of 1850. The first 

 few pairs were liberated at Brooklyn, 

 X. Y. In the few years then following, 

 many others' were liberated at differ- 

 ent cities in the United States, so that 

 by 1875, they had spread over prac- 

 tically the whole area east of the 

 Mississippi. From the time of its in- 

 troduction, there was a storm of pro- 

 test from the practical naturalists 

 who foresaw the result of its' introduc- 

 tion,- from its behavior in other coun- 

 tries'. They knew its record in coun- 

 tries where it had been a longer resi- 

 dent. The people who introduced the 

 sparrow believed that it would be an 

 insectivorous bird!, and would take 

 care of the canker worm which was 

 then troubling the people very much. 

 The canker worm is no longer a pest, 

 but its destruction by the sparrow is 

 not granted by the ornithologists. E. 

 H. Forbush, in his report on the Gypsy 



moth states that the sparrow has 

 ••been seen to eat all forms of the 

 moth, but that the bird itself is more 

 injurious than beneficial inasmuch as 

 the sparrow drives away the native 

 birds which would hold the pest in 

 check. Dr. Elliott Coues' made, in 

 1880, an urgent appeal to the people 

 to exterminate the English Sparrow 

 for the following reasons. 



l...They do not perform the work 

 for which they were imported. 



2. They attack, harass, fight, drive 

 away, and kill native birds, much more 

 insectivorous than themselves. 



In 1889 the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture published a 400- 

 page volume on the English Sparrow 

 in America. This work takes up the 

 economic status of the English Spar- 

 row, its' food relations, and its behav- 

 ior with other birds. An amazing 

 amount of evidence against the spar- 

 row is gathered here and the author 

 of the bulletin advises the extermina- 

 tion of the sparrow all over the Unit- 

 ed States. 



In April, 1906, the following ques- 

 tionnaire was printed in these publi- 

 cations: 'The Auk,* 'Bird-Lore,' 'Amer- 

 ican Bird Magazine,' 'The Oologist,' 

 and 'Maine Sportsman.' 



Circular of Inquiry with Reference 

 to the Present Status of the English 

 Sparrow Problem in America. 



1. Are you familiar with Bulletin 

 No. 1, The English Sparrow in Ameri- 

 ca, published by the Agricultural De- 

 partment in 1889; and do you agree 

 with the facts there presented and 

 with its conclusions? 



2. Are English Sparrows present 

 in your locality? If so, are they in- 

 creasing or decreasing in numbers? 



3. What is being done with you to 

 exterminate them? Please outline 

 methods which you deem effective. 



4. What influence have you observ- 

 ed the English Sparrow to have upon 

 native birds? 



