258 THE ENGLISH SPARROW IN AMERICA. 



amount of grain was picked from the eass, but farther in the wheat became more full 

 in the ear. (August 25, 1885. ) 



East Boclqwrt. A. Hall : I have seen large numbers feeding upon shocks of oats, 

 and farmers tell me they are very destructive to other grain. (August 26, 1886. Pres- 

 ent about fifteen years. ) 



Laurel. Daniel Bohl: When the wheat is ripe one can see how much they eat 

 and destroy. I have seen patches of grain which looked as though some one had 

 taken the wheat heads and rubbed them between his hands — nothing left but straw 

 and chaff. (August 6, 1887. ) 



Mount Vernon. B. L. Swetland : Mr. James Rodgers, who lives in the west part 

 of this town, owns several acres of gardens and also grows a few acres of wheat each 

 year. He told me that last year and this the Sparrows destroyed several bushels of 

 his wheat (each year), and that in a few days they would have destroyed the entire 

 crop. They worked on it as long as it remained in the field. (November 15, 1886. 

 Present about ten years.) 



South Salem. W. N. Irwin : The Sparrows began on the wheat as soon as it was in 

 the milk, taking from one to a dozen or more grains from one side of the head. They 

 worked on one side of the field along a wire fence and for a distance of about 50 feet 

 into the field, and the entire length, about 80 rods. The ground was pretty well 

 covered by the chaff they picked off. I also found them working on my buckwheat. 

 (December 26, 1887.) 



Wadsworth. Dr. J. F. Detweiler: One man in town had about three acres of 

 wheat last year, and the Sparrows destroyed three-quarters of the crop. I have re- 

 peatedly seen great droves alight upon a grain-field and begin picking the grain from 

 the heads. (December 10, 1887. Present about thirteen years.) 



fVauseon. Thomas Mikeseli: Last summer hundreds of Sparrows gathered on my 

 wheat shocks, and in a few minutes had taken every grain from the outside of many 

 shocks. Others tell me of their doing the same way at their places. (April 24, 1886.) 



West Berlin. Charles H. Shaw : Some of the farmers in this section have had to 

 cut their wheat earlier than they otherwise would, as the Sparrow was taking it badly. 

 There is a flock at our wheat nearly all the time. (July 7, 1887. Present about four 

 years. ) 



Pennsylvania. Berwick. Dr. A. B. McCrea: I havo seen w T heat and oats materi- 

 ally injured when standing in the field,. A farmer told me he had noticed the Spar- 

 rows going in and out of his mow, and upon examination found the top sheaves of 

 the oats entirely husked. (September, 1885.) 



Berwyn. Frank L. Burns: The Sparrow docs considerable damage to ripening 

 grain, principally wheat and oats. On the former it works in large flocks, shelling 

 out much more than it eats. It is also very troublesome in the barn after the crops 

 have been harvested, as it is impossible to keep it out. The extent of the damage is 

 difficult to estimate, but it must be considerable, as it works on the grain about two 

 w 7 eeks before harvest time, and also in the barn until it is thrashed. (1835.) 



Chamlersourgh (country). Davison Greenawalt : In the fall of 1884 we did not thrash 

 our grain until November. We had a large mow in the barn filled with wheat. 

 Large flocks of Sparrows came and soon had every head of wheat as far down as could 

 be reached by them completely cleaned out. I have also noticed them in the grain- 

 fields just before harvest. They will pick out the kernels of wheat as soon as they 

 are sufficiently hard. (February, 1886.) 



Lancaster. Dr. S. S. Rathvon: It does not seriously injure grain crops. Mr. J, 

 Duffy, while cultivating a small farm in the vicinity of Lancaster, once reported t6 

 me that it appeared in flocks of from fifty to one hundred during midsummer and 

 autumn, and fed on the grain in shock, but mainly on the gleanings. (October 8, 

 1886. Present sixteen years or more.) 



Philadelphia. J. Percy Moore: On a number of occasions this year, in earl} T Augus 4 

 when the oats were being harvested, I noted immense flocks in the fields, picking 



