240 THE ENGLISH SPARROW IN AMERICA. 



INJURY TO BUDS, BLOSSOMS, AND FOLIAGE OP TREES AND VINES. 



In reply to the question, Does the Sparroic injure shade, fruit, or orna- 

 mental trees or vines f five hundred and eighty-four replies were re- 

 ceived, of which three hundred and forty-nine were extremely brief, 

 and may be summarized as follows : 



Eeporta. 

 No 161 



Think not; believe not... 56 



Not to mv knowledge 36 



Keports. 



Not as a rule 3 



Only by driving off other birds 2 



Only by roosting and nesting in them. 14 



No complaint heard 1 



Does not injure trees 18 



Yes 17 



To some extent 4 



Said to do so 1 



Not so far as observed 15 



Not here ; not yet 7 



Not much 5 



Not materially 3 



Not seriously 3 



Not to any extent 3 



The remaining two hundred and thirty-five reports are, for the most 

 part, much more full and specific. It is impossible to summarize them 

 satisfactorily, but they may be classified as follows : 



Reports. 



Wholly favorable to the Sparrow „ 7 



Wholly unfavorable to the Sparrow 213 



Partly favorable and partly unfavorable 15 



The following examples of these reports will give a fair idea of the 

 character of the whole : 



California. — Berkeley. C. H. Dwinelle : It is accused in California (and I believe 

 rightly) of denuding trees of their fruit-buds to a very serious extent. (Brooklyn, 

 N. Y., December 4, 1886.) 



Connecticut. — Middletown. Walter B. Barrows: A few doors from my house a 

 colony of Sparrows has taken possesion of an English ivy which covers the entire 

 north side of a brick house. Upwards of fifty pairs nest in this vine, and although 

 their nests have been pulled down more than once, several wheelbarrow-loads at a time, 

 their numbers still increase. The ivy has become filthy, ragged, and unsightly ; and, 

 unless some more effective means are taken, its ultimate destruction is only a question 

 of a year or two more. The ivy on the chapel of the Divinity School has also been 

 seriously injured, and the building disfigured in the same manner. (July, 1886.) 



Norwich. S. T. Holbrook : They build in and deface vines on churches and private 

 dwellings. I have seen from seventy-five to one hundred nests on one vine, entirely 

 destroying its appearance. (August 16, 1886.) 



Stratford. Eobert W. Curtiss : I saw quite a flock at work in a pear tree early last 

 spring, and shot three of them. I opened their crops and found buds in all, but so 

 mutilated that I could not tell whether they were fruit-buds or wood-buds. (October 

 11,1886.) 



District of Columbia. — Washington. S. M. Clark: My grape-vines are easily 

 accessible, but I have never noticed the Sparrows among them. They will pick off 

 peach and pear buds and young blossoms, but they eat only a portion of them, drop- 

 ping the most on the ground. (January 11, 1886.) 



Georgia. — LawtonviUe. Postmaster: It is very destructive to apple trees, feeding 

 on the bloom in the spring ; but as yet it is not here in sufficient numbers to do much 

 damage, (October 4, 1886.) 



Illinois. — Chicago. B. T. Gault : For two seasons these pests have almost stripped 

 our grape-vines of their fruit ; first, by eating the fruit-buds in the early spring, and. 



