198 THE ENGLISH SPARROW IN AMERICA. 



covered by the above circular, except that one question asked for in- 

 formation as to injury to " grapes or other fruits." Replies to some of 

 these questions were received from a few persons who did not contribute 

 information in reply to the later circular. 



About one hundred and ten persons answered a circular sent out in 

 1883 by a committee of the American Ornithologists' Union, and these 

 replies have been incorporated in the evidence now printed. The ques- 

 tions were similar to those subsequently sent out by the Department of 

 Agriculture, but made more particular inquiries as to the food of old 

 and young Sparrows, and the variation in food dependent on season 

 and location. Eeplies to these questions will be recognized readily by 

 the date — 1884 or earlier. 



The replies fi om all these sources have been grouped under seven 

 heads, as follows: 



(A) Distribution by States. 



(B) Rate of increase; checks, natural and artificial. 



(C) Injury to buds and foliage. 



(D) Injury to fruits, garden seeds, and vegetables. 



(E) Injury to grain crops. 



(F) Relation to native birds. 



(G) Relation to insects. 



The material under each head has been arranged alphabetically by 

 States, and under each State alphabetically by post-offices. Informa- 

 tion relating' to Canada follows that relating to the States. 



As already noted in the introduction, every scrap of information rel- 

 evant to the inquiry will be found here in its appropriate place, under 

 the name of the person contributing it, and accompanied, whenever pos- 

 sible, by the exact date and locality to which the information relates.* 

 Moreover, in most cases each bit of testimony is followed by the num- 

 ber of years which the Sparrow is believed to have been present at the 

 point named. 



Whenever possible, the replies have been printed in the same form 

 in which they were received, and when it has been found necessary to 

 change the form of a reply, either in dismembering a statement relat- 

 ing to several subjects or in condensing several statements relating to 

 the same subject, the utmost care has been taken to preserve the exact 

 meaning of the observer. 



As a rule, all statements received in reply to questions have been 

 printed in full, the main exceptions to this rule being in cases of *(a) 

 evident misapprehension of the question ; (b) replies too vague and in- 

 definite to be of any value; (c) hearsay statements, which could not be 

 considered as evidence. 



As was to be expected, a large amount of purely negative evidence 

 was received. Hundreds of observers wrote simply yes or no after 



*This plan was reluctantly, but necessarily, adaudoued. See foot-iaote on page 12 

 in introduction. 



