104 THE ENGLISH SPARROW IN AMERICA. 



In this connection some of the data afforded by the five hundred and 

 twenty-two dissections made at Washington during the past summer are 

 of interest. Three hundred and thirty-eight were the stomachs of birds 

 taken on the grounds of the Department of Agriculture, almost all of 

 them shot between noon and 2 o'clock p. m. 7 and when not engaged in 

 searching the driveways for refuse. These grounds consist of about 

 thirty-five acres of grass, shrubbery, trees, and gardens j and form one 

 section of the unbroken series of parks which extends from the Capitol 

 to the White House, a distance of more than a mile. Here at all times 

 during the summer large numbers of insects were to be had without 

 any particular search, and hence these three hundred and thirty-eight 

 stomachs ought to contain a larger percentage than usual of such 

 food. The remaining one hundred and eighty-four stomachs came from 

 various places at a distance, and the data accompanying them are not 

 complete in all cases, but many were collected in places where insects 

 were abundant. Three hundred and seventy-six of these stomachs were 

 from adult birds, and fifty-four of them, or fourteen and two-tenths per 

 cent., contained remains of insects. One hundred and two were from 

 birds classified as "immature " — that is, they were at most only two or 

 three months old, but were fully fledged, and no longer under the care 

 of the parents. Twenty-two of these, or about twenty-one and one-half 

 per cent., contained insect remains. Forty-four were either nestlings or 

 at least still under the care of the parents, and seventeen of these, or 

 thirty-eight and six-tenths per cent., contained some insect food. This 

 confirms in great measure the generally accepted theory that young 

 Sparrows eat many more insects than adults, but it should be remarked 

 that very few of these five hundred and twenty-two stomachs contained 

 any large number of insects. Certainly the average percentage of in- 

 sect food would not exceed one or two per cent., while even in the forty- 

 four young birds not more than ten per cent, of the entire food was 

 insects. Moreover, in one or two cases, young Sparrows taken from the 

 nests contained no trace of insect food, but did contain crushed or soft- 

 ened grain, probably from horse droppings. Dr. B. H. Warren, at West 

 Chester, Pa., and Mr. C. J. Maynard, in Boston, had similar experiences, 

 and there can be no doubt that insects are not essential even for feed- 

 ing the young. Many persons suppose that when Sparrows are busy at 

 horse droppings in the streets they are looking for insects, but of course 

 they are really picking out the partially digested grain, and this grain 

 is perfectly adapted to the wants of young Sparrows, even when just 

 hatched. An occasional insect may be picked up in the same places, but 

 such insects are usually small dung-beetles which are useful, or at least 

 not harmful species. It is probably safe to say that as a rule nine- 

 tenths of the food of city Sparrows — so long as they remain within city 

 limits — is derived from horse droppings, and most of the remainder is 

 house refuse. In the parks or on the outskirts of cities, in small towns, 



