INJURY TO GRAPES. 53 



Even in the vicinity of Kochester, the Sparrow is not abundant in 

 the sense in which it is abundant about more southern cities of equal 

 size ; and yet many complaints of injury to grapes were received from 

 that city and the surrounding country. At the vineyard of Messrs. 

 Elwanger & Barry, about a mile south of the city, considerable dam. 

 age had been done to Niagara and Dutchess grapes, but the superin- 

 tendent, Mr. J. Gardner, was sure this was entirely due to robins and 

 other native birds, and stated that although the Sparrows did consid- 

 erable damage to wheat in the neighborhood, they seldom visited the 

 vineyard after the grapes began to ripen. On the other hand, Mr. 

 Henry Harrison, living in the city, lost about one-half of one variety of 

 early grape (Israella) growing in his garden, through the depredations 

 of Sparrows; Mr. Jennings, living about a mile and a-half northeast of 

 the city, had suffered considerable loss of Concords and Dela wares in 

 the same way ; and at Eush, about 12 miles south of Rochester, Spar- 

 rows destroyed a large proportion of the grapes of Mr. W. G. Mark- 

 ham. 



Among those who have suffered from the Sparrow's depredations on 

 grapes, there appears to be some difference of opinion as to the motive 

 of the bird, some believing that it eats only the seeds, others only the 

 juice or pulp, while still others contend that it punctures the grapes wan- 

 tonly and with no intention of eating any of them. From all the evi- 

 dence obtainable on this point, it seems probable that each of these 

 views is in part correct, but that ordinarily the chief attraction is in 

 the juice or pulp of the grape, which the birds seem really to enjoy. 

 Grape-seeds have been found in their stomachs very rarely, and grape 

 ski us never, so far as we are aware. 



Those who have watched closely the movements of the Sparrow when 

 among the grapes agree that he pecks many more grapes than he eats, 

 and his actions at such times, together with the fact that he frequently 

 picks off leaves and shoots, which he does not eat, lend some color to 

 the statements that he willfully destroys simply for the pleasure of de- 

 struction. 



But in whatever manner accomplished, the injury to grapes is cer- 

 tainly serious, for even if but one or two grapes on a bunch are punc- 

 tured, their decay soon affects the others in the cluster, and mutilated 

 clusters are practically worthless for market. 



The States reporting most injury to grapes are as follows: 



Reports. 



.New York 15 



Kentucky 12 



Ohio 12 



Indiana 11 



Pennsylvania 10 



Michigan 9 



Massachusetts 8 



Connecticut 8 



Twelve other States, sent one report each, 



Reports. 



New Jersey 8 



Kansas 5 



Iowa 4 



Georgia 4 



Illinois 4 



Rhode Island 3 



District of Columbia ■.-.-.,-.-. ...... % 



