EVIDENCE.— FROM AMERICAN PUBLICATIONS. 321 



through the agricultural sections of Europe, and found that Sparrows were every- 

 where regarded as a nuisance. In Germauy he saw hoys carrying hundreds of them, 

 strung on sticks. They were taken to the village authorities, and the hoys received 

 a half cent for each one killed. They were paying for their destruction everywhere. 

 They were hecoraing very destructive iu his locality. He had found their ravages on 

 his green peas particularly annoying. After farther discussion in similar strain, and 

 some words in their defense by President Johnson and one other member, J. C. Ste- 

 vens, of Wayne County, introduced a resolution declaring them a nuisance, and urg- 

 ing extermination, which was passed with but one dissenting voice. 



[The Scientific Farmer, Vol. IV, pp. 35, 36. 1879.] 



Iii the February number of the Scientific Farmer for 1878 I had occasion to speak of 

 the sparrow war which was then raging, and which had then been in progress for 

 some time. At present the controversy still continues, and has continued at inter- 

 vals ever since. Much has been written upon the subject on both sides by able men ; 

 yet the matter appears to stand just about where it was when the first gun was fired, 

 or, in other words, when the first article appeared, denouncing the Sparrows as not 

 only injurious to agricultural interest, but also proclaiming that they were enemies 

 to our native birds. The latter-named accusation has been made oftener than any 

 other, and it has been repeatedly stated that the rightful inhabitants of the trees and 

 shrubbery of our parks are being rapidly driven away by the unprovoked attacks of 

 the pugnacious Sparrows. Although, this may be a fact, as accumulated testimony 

 indicates, yet I do not consider that it is the essential point of dispute; for, practi- 

 cally, it can make but little difference if our native birds are driven away, provided 

 the Sparrows take their places and devour an equal quantity of insects. This impor- 

 tant matter up to date has, however, been but slightly touched upon, for no one has 

 made an extended examination of the contents of the stomachs of the Sparrows, at 

 least in the vicinity of Boston. As this is absolutely the only method by which we can 

 ascertain satisfactorily just what the birds do eat, this investigation must be made 

 before anyone can give a decided opinion upon the subject, that will conclusively 

 settle a matter which has been so long agitated. 



I do not mean to be understood to say that the ornithologists who have written 

 upon this subject do not consider it necessary to examine the contents of the stomachs 

 of the Sparrows, for they all see that it must be done sooner or later ; but hitherto 

 uo one has done it to any extent. In my article for February, last year, I ventured 

 to suggest that the legislature of our State appoint proper persons to do this work ; 

 but as this has not been done, and as I have heard it intimated that this examination 

 is impracticable, I concluded to try and see how it would work. Assisted by some 

 young friends, I procured a number of English Sparrows each day last autumn, and 

 made a careful examination of their stomachs. These birds were killed along the 

 streets from the Watertown arsenal to Winter street, Boston, and therefore I judged 

 that they were fair representatives of the typical, and now famous, Sparrows of the 

 ''Hub." Through the kindness of my friends, the birds were given to mo fresh, and 

 thus I could tell exactly what they had in their crops and stomachs. Let me here 

 state, in order to show that my work has been done accurately, that I have long made 

 a specialty of ascertaining the contents of the stomachs of various birds, having now 

 by me notes of the dissections of over five thousand specimens. It has been stated 

 that it is impossible to detect the presence of any insects, especially of the softer 

 larvae, after they have been swallowed and partly digested; this is not a fact, how- 

 ever, and any one who has examined the interior of even a strictly insectivorous 

 bird, and in summer, will bear me out in this statement? 



The wing coverts of beetles, and the harder portions of all other insects, never di- 

 gest, and thus are always to be seen ; while by washing the half-digested mass in 

 water, the skins of the larvie may be found, even after they have been swallowed for 

 some time, and are always plainly perceptible when first eaten, In every case ex- 

 8404— Bull. 1— -21 



