34 THE ENGLISH SPARROW IN AMERICA. 



parent! y from a thorough drenching, followed by chill, and in some cases 

 doubtless hastened by exhaustion. 



Although, as already seen, climate may play an important part in aid- 

 ing or preventing the increase and spread of the Sparrow, it is certain 

 that the abundance or scarcity of food is even more important. Wher- 

 ever Sparrows have been introduced by man they have been fed and 

 housed to a certain extent, at all events at first. But soon they have 

 been left to shift for themselves, which is usually the case when they 

 spread unaided from town to town. Grain-eaters by nature and by 

 preference, we have seen how they follow railroads and carriage roads 

 from place to place, living by the way on good or refuse grain, and 

 always tarrying longest in places where such food is most abundant. 

 At harvest time they go ont by day into the wheat fields near town, 

 often coming back at night to roost; and when the grain fields are 

 cleared or when snow covers them the Sparrows turn to the city streets 

 with the certainty that a large amount of their favorite food will be 

 found there. Wherever in civilized countries horses are used, more 

 or less grain is necessary to keep them in working order. It may be 

 wheat, rye, oats, barley, or corn, and they may eat much or little, 

 crushed or whole, yet a certain proportion always remains more or less 

 undigested, and much of this eventually becomes accessible to the 

 Sparrows. 



The most casual observer can not have failed to notice the eagerness 

 with which the bird appropriates such food, and there is no reason to 

 doubt that this food, more than all other attractions combined, has 

 made the Sparrow what he is — primarily a bird of the street. Under 

 ordinal circumstances this partly digested grain from horse-droppings 

 doubtless forms at least 90 per cent, of the town Sparrow's food, and 

 is not only an abundant and excellent food for the adults, but by virtue 

 of its partial digestion is most admirably fitted for the first food of the 

 young. 



The practical bearing of this important fact is obvious: Sparrows in- 

 troduced to any town at once find themselves provided with an abun- 

 dauce of nutritious food such as the}' have always preferred. The nooks 

 and crannies about buildings furnish all necessary shelter and the best 

 possible nesting places; proximity to man insures partial protection 

 from the ordinary bird enemies; and so for a dozen generations their in 

 crease is rapid and steady. 



As they increase in numbers the first check is likely to come from an 

 insufficient number of good nesting places, and in case this want is met, 

 the supply of food may at last become inadequate. Then follows a 

 natural and gradual extension into the surrounding country, or along 

 the roads to neighboring towns and cities. If these towns belong to 

 grain-growing districts the increase may continue indefinitely, or until 

 public apprehension is excited and measures are taken to suppress the 

 threatened scourge. If the grain fails, or some other food becomes su- 



