108 THE ENGLISH SPARROW IN AMERICA. 



Here certainly was a test case of the insectivorous nature of the Spar- 

 row. 



" On the sidewalk in front of the two buildings two large spreading 

 elms ( Ulmus Americanus), standing between some maples, showed every 

 leaf eaten from them, disclosing the nesting-boxes among their branches, 

 and their trunks and limbs dotted thickly or clustered with the easily 

 recognized egg-bearing cocoons of the Orgyia. Hundreds of immature 

 caterpillars were traveling over the trees, fences, and the walls adjoin- 

 ing. No better evidence of the almost perfect immunity afforded to the 

 caterpillars from their enemies, whether birds or insects, by the presence 

 of the Sparrows, could possibly be given. 



"A portion of Broadway, between Clinton avenue and the Central 

 Eailroad crossing, was also known to abound in the Sparrows, the citi- 

 zens resident there having fed them most generously, not only during 

 the winter season, but also in the summer months. Nesting- boxes had 

 been placed for them in most of the trees. Here the trees presented a 

 pitiable sight. Many of the elms and horse-chestnuts were entirely 

 stripped of their foliage j the naked ribs of the leaves of the latter 

 seemed ghastly in their suggestion of fleshless fingers. Nowhere else 

 in the city had I seen such ravages. 



" Passing thence to Pearl and State streets, the same association of 

 Sparrows, caterpillars, and their destructive work was seen. Clinton 

 Square, where the Sparrows had, in their introduction into the city, been 

 specially taken under the care and protection of the residents on the 

 east side of the park, afforded another excellent test. It was evident 

 that the Sparrows were in full appreciation of their privileges from the 

 almost incredible numbers sporting about the trees. Their proteges 

 were also in full force. Caterpillars and their cocoons met the eye 

 everywhere, while hanging from the rails and caps of the iron fence sur- 

 rounding the park were the dead and decomposing bodies of caterpillars 

 killed by the recent heavy rains (often so fatal to insect larvse), in such 

 numbers that they tainted the air in their vicinity. 



" It seems unnecessary to extend this record further than to add that 

 in other sections of the city observations made were in accord with the 

 above. 



"How the Sparrows protect the caterpillars. — That the Sparrows decline 

 to eat the Orgyia caterpillar is not a charge against them. They could 

 not eat them with impunity. The diet would doubtless prove fatal to 

 them. The charge to which they are amenable is this : By the force of 

 numbers, united to a notoriously pugnacious disposition, they drive 

 away the few birds that would feed upon them. Of these we know but 

 four species, viz, the Bobin (Merula migratoria), the Baltimore Oriole* 

 (Icterus galbula), the Black-billed Cuckoo (Coccygus erythropthalmus), 

 and the Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccygus americanus). 



* This bird has been seen with its head thrust into the web-nest of the tent cater- 

 pillar, eagerly devouring its occupants. 



