EVIDENCE INJURY TO FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. 247 



Eureka. A.W.Hart: It injures tomatoes and grapes. (September 4, 1886. Present 

 two or three years.) 



Garnett. M.A.Page: It injures leguminous fruit, and eats turnip seed and radish 

 seed. (September 3, 1886. Present one year.) 



Manhattan. Prof. D. E. Lantz : They have been known to injure grapes by punctur- 

 ing the skin, but have not proved more destructive than some of our native birds. 

 (Autumn, 1885. Present about six years.) 



Kentucky. — Adairville. A. M. Moseley : There is great complaint of the Sparrow 

 from the grape-growers. (Autumn, 1886.) 



Bagdad. E. P. Denton: Grapes, cherries, and all small fruits are almost entirely 

 destroyed by the Sparrow. (October 5, 1886. Present six or seven years.) 



Bowling Green (country, 3 miles from city). W. Cook: It eats all fruits and 

 seeds, including those of the sunflower. It also picks off pea-blossoms and young 

 peas. (September 2, 1886. Present about three years.) 



Caslcy. Frank B. Hancock: It injures grapes, berries, and all small fruits, and 

 promises to be &pest in this way. (August 19, 1886. Present about six months.) 



Ghent. George R. Bowie: It plucks off fruits and pulls up vegetables while ten- 

 der. (October 8, 1886. Present six or eight years.) 



Hartford. A. B. Baird : It destroys cabbage and radish seed as they commence 

 maturing ; but I have not known of its molesting fruits. (October 5, 1886. Present 

 about six years.) 



Hickman. L. 0. Pindar: It picks off grapes and cherries, and drops half on the 

 ground. It destroys ten times as much as it eats. It also injures strawberries, goose- 

 berries, etc. (February, 1887. Present about ten years. ) 



Louisville. J. B. Nail: When other food was scarce I have seen it eat grapes, or 

 rather ruin them by sticking its bill into them. (September 8, 1886. Present about 

 twelve years.) 



Stanford. Thomas Richards: It injures raspberries and strawberries to a small 

 extent, and sunflowers when raised for seed. (October 29, 1886. Present about 

 thirteen years.) 



Louisiana. — Schriever. Postmaster : It eats the blossoms of English peas, and in- 

 jures all vegetables bearing flowers. (October 8, 1886. Present one or two years.) 



Maine. — Brewer. Manly Hardy : It injures grapes to the extent of its capacity to 

 do so. It also eats garden seeds. (August 31, 1885. Present about four years.) 



Maryland. — Baltimore. Otto Lugger: Germinating seeds are eaten, and the sun- 

 flower no longer ripens its seeds, as they are greedily eaten by the Sparrow. (May 

 10, 1887.) 



Boonsborough. Robert Lamar: It is a nuisance here, pluckiug the blossoms of 

 early vegetables. (November 12, 1886. Present about eleven years.) 



Massachusetts. — Amherst. Hubert L Clark : In regard to the English Sparrow's 

 attacks on fruit, my attention has been called to the fact that it is very injurious to 

 early pears and apples. On a tree bearing about fifty pears (the variety known as 

 " Beurre Gifford ") more than thirty were destroyed by these birds. They would eat 

 out a part of one side of the pear before it was ripe, and then leave the work to be 

 finished by ants and other insects. I never saw the birds at their work but once, 

 and then being at some distance I mistook them for young and dingy orioles, but am 

 now convinced of my mistake. A friend living in the center of the town reports the 

 same thing in regard to early apples, but he has seen the Sparrows at work. (Sep- 

 tember 8, 1887. Present fifteen years. ) 



Falmouth (country). F. J. C. Swift : They have been known to pick into and de- 

 stroy pears. (Autumn, 1885.) 



Medford. JohnAyres: It was in my garden many years. I cultivated with my 

 own hands and knew every tree and bush and all the fruit, and I never saw it touch 

 either fruit or vegetables, as I have often seen the robin do. (May 29, 1884. Present 

 twelve to fifteen years.) 



