88 THE ENGLISH SPARROW IN AMERICA. 



a stump liere this summer. After being driven away, however, it did not molest the 

 tiest again. The young Wrens were replaced. It tried to whip some Bluebirds, but 

 we drove it away and it did not again molest them. (November, 18S5.) 



A. H. Muudt, of Fairbury, Livingston County, 111., writes: 



It sometimes drives Wrens and Bluebirds from their nesting places. I have noticed 

 them repeatedly trying to drive the Wrens from their boxes, but the holes were too 

 small to admit them. (October 6, 1836. Present five or six years. 



Robert W. Barrell writes from South Bethlehem, Northampton Coun- 

 ty, Pa. : 



House Wrens especially are driven out of their homes, even when the openings are 

 so smali that the Sparrow cannot enter. Under such circumstances I have known 

 Sparrows to stand in front of the entrance and keep the Wrens off, and I have shot 

 the Sparrows while doing it. (September 16, 1886.) 



M. Abbott Frazar, of Mount Auburn, Middlesex County, Mass., writes : 



Before the Sparrow made its appearance on our place I had about 10 pairs of White- 

 bellied Swallows, 5 pairs of Bluebirds, and 15 pairs of Wrens, breeding in boxes put 

 up for them. Now the birds are all gone. The Sparrow breeds so early that all the 

 boxes are occupied, and very likely have young in them when the other birds arrive 

 from the South ; so the migrants are driven out. (Autumn, 1885.) 



J. B. Stockton writes from Toronto, Kans. : 



It has not been observed to drive away any of our native birds. In a contest last 

 t.pring the little House Wren actually drove the Sparrow out, and getting inside the 

 nest box kept the Sparrow out and finished its laying and incubation. The Bluebirds 

 also attacked the Sparrows, and after a contest lasting six hours drove them from a 

 box I had put up for them. (October 6, 1886. Present about one year.) 



William Holmead, of Mount Pleasant (in the suburbs of Washington, 

 D. C.) writes : 



The Wren, Bluebird, Common Sparrow, and Martin were formerly very numerous 

 here, and nested in trees and houses, but all without exception vacated them years 

 ago. One case in particular which I remember is that of a Wren which built her nest 

 in a box I had prepared for her. The Sparrow destroyed her young and tore up her 

 nest, and after several attempts to rebuild it she disappeared. (November 8, 1886. 

 Present about fifteen years. 



RELATION OF THE SPARROW TO BIRDS WHICH USUALLY NEST IN 

 TREES, OR AT LEAST IN PLACES NOT ESPECIALLY PREPARED FOR 

 THEM BY MAN. 



Under this head may be included very many of our common garden 

 and farm birds, such as the Eobin, Mockingbird, Goldfinch, Phoebe and 

 other flycatchers, Vireos, and certain sparrows and swallows, especially 

 the Cliff Swallow (Petrochelidon lunifrons). 



sparrow versus CLIFF swallow and barn swallow. 



The Cliff-Swallow is also known as the Mud Swallow, Eave Swallow, 

 Jug Swallow, and occasionally as the Barn Swallow, though the latter 

 name more properly belongs to the fork-tailed swallow, which most 

 often nests inside of bams, placing its nest against the rafters and Using 

 a mixture of mud and straw in its composition. The Cliff Swallow, on 

 the contrary, usually nests in large colonies on the outside of buildings, 



