192 THE ENGLISH SPARROW IN AMERICA. 



Passer bad spread over the entire 64 square miles which make up 

 the city of Saint Louis. In the southern part the Tree Sparrows pro- 

 dominated, and as late as 1S77 no House Sparrow was seen on nay prem- 

 ises, oue mile south of the arsenal, which latter point they had then 

 occupied in large numbers. Also during the winter of 1877-'78 all of 

 my twelve boxes set up for Sparrows were in undisputed possession of 

 the Tree Sparrows. 



On March 28, 1878, the first House Sparrow appeared on the scene, 

 and trouble began. One pair of Tree Sparrows was dislodged and 

 a pair of House Sparrows began nest-building. That summer no 

 increase in House Sparrows took place in my colony, and the Tree 

 Sparrows reared their broods in peace, but when the first cold October 

 nights forced the Sparrows to change their roost from the now nearly 

 leafless trees to some warm shelter, a whole flock of House Sparrows 

 took possession of the boxes and the Tree Sparrows had to leave. 

 Thereafter the weaker Tree Sparrow had little chance to gain a suit- 

 able nesting site around its old home. Only one pair continued breed 

 ing for a few years longer,. in a box which, besides hanging lower than 

 the rest, had an entrance which the bigger House Sparrows found un- 

 comfortably small. It appeared to me that the Tree Sparrow would be 

 much more of a house sparrow if his stronger cousin did not force him 

 to be a tree sparrow by robbing him of every suitable nesting and 

 roosting place about human habitations. 



With the increase of the House Sparrow the Tree Sparrow had to 

 yield the city almost entirely to him and betake himself to the country, 

 spreading in all directions and resorting to tree-holes and out-of-the-way 

 places, while the other took the cities and towns. 



This Tree Sparrow is a much more acceptable acquisition than the 

 House Sparrow. Although sharing many of its habits, it lacks the 

 fighting qualities for which the other is so much hated. Of course, like 

 every bird, it defends its home against intruders, but it is not aggress- 

 ive. It never attacks other birds for mere sport, like its cousin ; on the 

 contrary, it enjoys the company of our native birds, and it is daily seen 

 associating with our wintering Junco and Canada Tree Sparrow. With 

 this latter bird it has some notes in common, and it seems that this re- 

 semblance of the voice led the early European settlers to apply the name 

 of Tree Sparrow to this otherwise entirely different bird, a misnomer 

 which in turn gave rise to the equally inappropriate scientific names 

 "montana" and "montieola." 



The voice of the European Tree Sparrow, although it can not be called 

 a song, is really melodious, especially when a number of them, as is 

 generally the case, join in common concert, much like our bobolinks and 

 blackbirds. 



Not more than two broods are raised annually, while the House Spar- 

 row often raises three, but not four to six, as some claim. 



About the bad qualities of the imported Sparrow nothing new can be 



