DESTRUCTION OF WEED SEEDS. 67 



ice done by consuming the seeds of weeds. There can be no question 

 that the bird does eat many weed seeds, but it is very questionable 

 if this is in reality of any considerable consequence. It is impossible 

 to define the term weed perfectly. A weed is simply a plant out of 

 place. Almost any useful plant may become a weed if it grows in the 

 wrong place, and conversely almost any weed may be valued as a gar- 

 den plant under some circumstances. Our various grasses, native and 

 introduced, are valuable plants in their proper places, but become trou- 

 blesome weeds when they grow unbidden in our gardens. The Sparrow 

 eats the seeds of such grasses wherever and whenever he finds them, 

 and the act is good, bad, or indifferent according to circumstances. In 

 the field or by the roadside this habit is of little account either way 

 and in the garden but few grasses are allowed to ripen seed ; if they 

 did, however, and the Sparrow destroyed it all, most grasses would still 

 spread by the root. Moreover, the Sparrow destroys many useful seeds 

 as well. 



The Sparrow is an unquestionable nuisance in eating grass seed when 

 sown on lawns and about houses, frequently scratching it up, or pluck- 

 ing and eating the tender sprouts as they come through the ground. 



Mr. William Saunders, superintendent of the garden and grounds of 

 the Department of Agriculture, at Washington, D. 0., testifies: 



It is very difficult to start grass anywhere about the grounds, as the Sparrows eat 

 the seed as fast as sown. 



Similar trouble has been experienced in tbe Smithsonian grounds and 

 elsewhere in Washington, as well as in other cities where Sparrows are 

 abundant. The dissection of Sparrows has established the fact that 

 they eat almost every kind of seed obtainable, though certain kinds are 

 always preferred if there is a choice. Among vegetables we have 

 seen already that cabbage, turnip, and lettuce are preferred, and that 

 sunflower seed is a special favorite. Among grains, wheat seems to be 

 preferred above everything else, and oats stand next in favor. Among 

 grasses, those with large seeds are preferred, and the fox-tailed grasses 

 (Setaria), so closely allied to millet or Hungarian grass, are much sought 

 after. 



Among weeds, the genus Polygonum, including the bind weeds (and 

 also the buckwheat), heads the list, and as some species of this genus are 

 sure to be found in almost every unoccupied city square or waste place 

 in the outskirts of the city, the seed forms a pretty constant factor in the 

 Sparrow's food in summer and autumn. 



Out of 522 stomachs of English Sparrows examined at the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture during the past summer (1887), 102 contained grass 

 seed and 85 contained weed seed. In nearly all cases where many Spar- 

 rows have been dissected in summer and fall, considerable quantities 

 of weed seed have been found. And yet it is very probable that in 

 ninety-nine out of every hundred cases in which such seed had been eaten 

 no particular benefit had been conferred on anyone, the seed being 



