EVIDENCE. RELATION TO INSECTS. 285 



the summer he noticed the English Sparrows pricking what he supposes to have heen 

 eggs of insects from the under side of the leaves of some mulberries near the store. 

 (December 27, 1866. Present about six years.) 



California. — Berkeley (suburb). Dr. M. C. O'Toole : Spiders and motbs are used as 

 food for the young, but the Sparrow will devour that which is near at baud. He may 

 eat insects of any kind if grain can not be had. It will be found that the Sparrow 

 i.s not of any service to the farmer or any one else. It visits the iields only in harvest 

 time, and then in flocks. (February 17, 1867. Present about three years.) 



Eureka (suburb). Charles Fiebig: It eats insects, mostly caterpillars, when feed- 

 ing its young. (September 28, 1886. Present fifteen months.) 



Haywards. Dr. J. G. Cooper : It evidently prefers seeds, but is seen to catch flies, 

 etc., when feeding its young. (February 22, 1834.) 



Oakland and San Francisco. E. F. Lorquin : I have seen it catching flies, of which 

 it is very fond, but I have never seen it feeding on worms or caterpillars. (August, 

 1887.) 



San Francisco. F. Gruber: It eats flies, spiders, moths, butterflies, caterpillars, and 

 the larv;e of insects, and feeds its young on the larva? of insects, worms, and soft in- 

 sects. The bird seems to prefer insects or grubs to seeds or grain in the winter sea- 

 son. * * * During the last four years I find that insects and garden snails have 

 become remarkably scarce here. (March 5, 1884. Present nine years.) 



San Francisco. William McK. Heath: A very few insects are fed to its young. 

 (May, 1887. Present ten or fifteen years.) 



San Jose. A. L. Parkhurst: They feed on various worms, caterpillars, and grass- 

 hoppers during the breeding season. (August 27, 1886. Present about five years. ) 



Connecticut. — East Hartford. Willard E. Treat : It devours the canker-worm, 

 goldsmith beetle, and various small moths. It feeds on insects mostly in the spring, 

 during breeding time. (October 23, 1886. Present about eight years.) 



Middletown. Walter B. Barrows: During May and early June (1886) the canker- 

 worm {Anisopteryx vernata) was extremely abundant throughout the town, and nearly 

 all the unprotected apple and elm trees were completely stripped of their foliage. 

 While the worms were very small the Sparrows did not seem to notice them, but when 

 one-third or one-half grown they began to collect and carry them to their young in 

 large numbers. I frequently saw a dozen or more Sparrows on a single large elm 

 close to the house / all busily collecting the worms, and each carrying away a bunch 

 in his bill. The adult birds never seemed to eat any of these worms, but they cer- 

 tainly carried thousands each day to their young in the ivy close by. In spite of this 

 however, and the additional fact that many other birds were also feeding constantly 

 on the worms, the elms were completely stripped of their leaves before the worms 

 were fully grown, and they were thus compelled to spin down to the ground and 

 travel off in search of other food. While thus moving off on fences, walks, and the 

 ground I never saw the Sparrows touch them, probably because there were still many 

 trees on which worms were to be found. It should be noticed in this connection that 

 the canker-worm is a smooth-skinned span- worm, and a favorite food with almost all 

 birds which habitually eat insects ; while its great abundance so near the nests of the 

 Sparrows will in part account for their feeding their young so largely on it. The 

 moth of this species is most abundant in early spring, when the wingless female issues 

 from the ground late in the afternoon, ascending the trees to deposit her eggs during 

 the night. On favorable evenings in March and April of the season in question the 

 grass and leaves beneath elm and apple trees were fairly alive with these wingless 

 females distended with eggs. The robins ate them by hundreds, but I never saw 

 an English Sparrow take any notice of them, although it occasionally chased the 

 winged males, which were equally abundant and much more conspicuous. (July, 

 1885. Present about sixteen years.) 



New Raven. Louis B. Bishop : It feeds on insects when no other food is plenty. 

 I have seen it kill the cicada, cauker-woriu, and cabbage-worm, but very rarely. 

 (August 23, 1886. Present fifteen years or more.) 



