EVIDENCE. — RELATION TO INSECTS. 289 



La Fayette. J. M. Dresser: It feeds upon insects when it can get nothing else. 

 It has been seen to eat the cabbage- worm, but only when starved to it. I have never 

 seen or heard of a bug or worm being found in the crop of an English Sparrow. (De- 

 cember 11, 1886. Present about twelve years.) 



La Fayette. F. M. Webster: I have never seen it feed upon insects to any extent, 

 except on the seveuteeu-year locust {Cicada septemdecem) and a grasshopper (Melano- 

 pus femur-rubrum) . I think it'prefers Ortliopiera and the larger Hemiptera, and possi- 

 bly Neuroptera. It takes insects Avhen it can got nothing else conveniently. I have 

 noticed recently that it catches grasshoppers, but this has only been going on since 

 small fruits and grain have become exhausted. (August 25, 1886. Present about 

 twelve years.) 



Muncie. Granville Cowing: Its diet seems to be wholly vegetable, and it is re- 

 garded here as a great and growing curse to agriculture and horticulture. (Novem- 

 ber 29, 1836. Present about six years.) 



New Albany. Jas. N. Pay ton : In this city and other places in the country, before 

 it came we had a caterpillar plague every three or four years. * * * The caterpil- 

 lar stripped all our sbade trees except the maple and sugar tree of all their leaves. 

 Since the Sparrows have become numerous, we have not had any trouble from cater- 

 pillars, and I believe the Sparrows did the work. (September, 1885. Present about 

 twenty years.) 



Rielimond (suburb). Joseph C. Rati iff : It does not take insects unless when feed- 

 ing its young. (November 5, 188G. Preseut about seventeen years.) 



Tell City. John L. Huber: It has been of marked benefit in the destruction of 

 the army- worm. It also eats the cabbage- worm, and all other worms infesting vege- 

 tation. It feeds its young upon insects. (October 8, 1886. Present abouttwelve years.) 



Vevay. William R. Stratford : It destroys the cabbage-worm (a great pest in this 

 locality), but I believe not more effectually than did our other birds before the advent 

 of the Sparrow. (October 7, 1886. Present about ten years.) 



Iowa. Bellevue. Dr. Lawrence Millar : I have observed it tearing the nests of the 

 leaf-roller, and extracting the larvae. I often see it carrying off beetles. It feeds upon 

 insects during the brooding season. (October 27, 1886. Present about ten years.) 



Burlington. Howard Kiugsbury: It benefits the farmer by destroying countless 

 numbers of codling-worms, larva) of Coleoptera, and many varieties of Aphidce. It 

 feeds upon insects whenever it can get them— especially while rearing its young. • (De- 

 cember 28, 1886. Preseut sixteeu or seventeen years.) 



Burlington. D. Y. Overton : It appears to be a scavenger, and lives but little upon 

 insects; I have seen it attack and destroy a wouuded grasshopper, but it exerts little 

 effect on the worms or insects which infest trees and vegetables in the city. (March, 

 1886.) 



Dubuque. Theo. W. Ruete : It feeds its young almost exclusively upon grubs, 

 larva), and small insects. (October 25, 1886. Present eight or ten years,) 



Iowa City. C. C. Nutting: It uses insects for feeding its nestlings, but not to any 

 noteworthy extent. (October 13, 1886. Present about five years.) 



Lenox. A. C. Brice : They certainly feed upon insects and their larva), especially 

 when they have young. (October 8, 18-S6. Present less than a year.) 



Newton. W. E. Diugman : It commonly eats insects in preference to grain. It 

 has been seen to catch and eat the young of the grasshopper or locust, also the com- 

 mon horse-fly. It destroys to a great extent the bot-fly, melon-bugs of all kinds, and 

 sometimes a honey-bee or wasp. (October 15, 1836. Present two or three years.) 



JVapello. L. M. Jamison: Like other birds it uses insects in feeding its young 

 brood. (October 11, 1886. Present three or four years.) 



Kansas. — Garnett. M. A. Page : It has destroyed millions of worms. It is a ben- 

 efit especially to our apple orchards. I know that it destroys the codling-moth and 

 miller. (September 3, 1886. Present about one year.) 



Larkin. P. C. Sweaney: It does not destroy insects or their larvae to any great 

 8404— Ball. 1 19 



