292 THE ENGLISH SPARROW IN AMERICA. 



Massachusetts. — Amherst. Hubert L. Clark: It is worse than useless, taking as 

 it does little or no insect food. (October 2, 18S5.) 



A few were seen eating canker-woims this year (1886. Present about fourteen 

 years.) 



Cambridge. William Brewster: They are emphatically seed eaters. I think they 

 eat very few insects. I do not think it possible that they eat the larva} of the va- 

 porer moth (Orgijia) to any extent, judging by the fact that the Sparrow boxes in 

 Boston are often nearly covered with the cocoons of this insect, and trees crowded 

 with the Sparrows are stripped bare of leaves. * *" * I have never made any 

 adequate dissections. Injurious insects, especially the vaporer moth (only in Boston) 

 and canker-worm, have increased rather than lessened since the introduction of the 

 Sparrow. (January 30, 1884.) 



Cambridge. Dr. H. A. Hagen : He eats insects in brooding time and before this 

 time; in my yard chiefly canker-worms, but before their appearance, eggs and all 

 small insects on the trees, for which he searches the twigs in the manner of the wood- 

 pecker. Canker-worms are also carried to the young; I have often seen the male come 

 with live of them in his mouth when there were five young to be provided for. The 

 Sparrow never eats the larvae of Orgyia leucostigma. It is a great but common error 

 here to expect him to eat hairy caterpillars; only a few birds (e.g. the cuckoo; eat 

 them. In Cambridge the canker-worm has certainly been materially lessened in num- 

 bers by the Sparrow. Since this bird became well established here we have never 

 had such numbers as were common seven or eight years before. (April 13, 1884. Pres- 

 ent about eleven years.) 



East Temphton. Charles E. Ingalls : It takes insects but rarely, and then while 

 caring for its young. I have seen it upon only two occasions flying to its young in 

 the nest with a white grub which I am unable to name. (August 23, 1886. Present 

 about six years.) 



Holyolce. Thomas Chalmers : Sparrows do not take long flights to procure food for 

 their young; if insects are abundant iu the neighborhood, insects will be found to form 

 the staple food for the young. When raising their early broods there is no grain or 

 seed to be had, while soft foods, such as insects, larva?, moths, and grubs are most 

 abundant. (March 6, 1884. Present about fifteen years.) 



Lgnn. John B. Tolman : I think it scarcely troubles insects. They have increased 

 rapidly since the coming of the Sparrow, and my fruit of all kinds is much more in- 

 fested than it used to be. (February 15, 1884. Present about eleven years.) 



Michigan. — Bad Axe. Bell Irwin: 1 have known it to gorge itself with angle- 

 worms, and later on with insects destructive to fruits and vegetables, among them 

 the cabbage- worm. (September 15, 1886. Present about four years.) 



Burlington. Postmaster: It feeds upon flies and grasshoppers. (October 21, 1886. 

 Present about three years.) 



Grass Lake. Frank O. Hellier : It has been of marked benefit by eating currant- 

 worms, cabbage-worms, etc. (September 7, 1886.) 



Hastings. John Bessmer : It has been of marked benefit in the destruction of a 

 great mauy insects, especially the cabbage-worm and grasshoppers of the .smaller 

 kinds. I am satisfied that it feeds its young entirely upon insects. I have watched 

 it day after day and have placed grain food within easy reach, but it would not 

 touch it to feed its young. 



In the summer I planted some cauliflowers in uiy garden and found they were not 

 attacked by the cabbage-worms, and upon investigation I found that the Sparrows 

 were feeding their young upon cabbage- worms picked from the cauliflowers. After 

 the young leave the nest I have seen them feed upon grain and insects together, 

 and when full grown I believe they subsist entirely upon grain. (October 7, 1886- 

 Present about ten years.) 



Hudson. A. H. Boies : As an insect-destroyer, I consider it a failure. (1885.) 



I once saw a Sparrow catch a single grasshopper, but that is the only iustance of 



