344 THE ENGLISH SPARROW IN AMERICA. 



The Food of Sparrows during each Month of the Year. 



Six hundred and ninety-four dissections have been made in the preparation of the 

 following table, by various hands, in various places. They have been made at nearly 

 regular intervals — certainly during every month of the year, and I may almost say 

 during every week. It is therefore hoped they will give a reliable idea of what the 

 customary food of Sparrows is and what their occasional food. I confess this latter 

 phrase is somewhat vague, but have felt the necessity of employing it in default of a 

 better. The column under this heading might no doubt be further extended. 



Maize has only been entered under two months ; but where Sparrows have an oppor- 

 tunity of obtaining it, maize would be found in their crops at any time of the year. 

 They will also eat bread, potatoes, rice, pastry, raisins, currants, etc., but as these 

 things have no bearing on the amount of harm which Sparrows do to agriculture,* 

 they are not included in the table. Credit must be given to them as scavengers in a 

 small way in our crowded cities, where they consume matter such as I have named, 

 which if left would decay and be injurious to health. 



Among those who have assisted in the inquiry my thanks are especially due to my 

 father, Mr. A. Willis, Mr. B. B. Sapwell, Mr. G. Roberts, Mr. F. Norgate, Mr. C. L. Bux- 

 ton, Mr. T. Southwell, Mr. T. E. Gunn,Mr. F. A. Lees, Mr. C. G. Barrett, Mr. H. H. 

 Slater, and Colonel Russell. I have further availed myself of sundry notes published 

 in the Zoologist, by Messrs. Hepburn, Hawley, and Wilson; and some material has 

 been gathered from other scattered sources, which I have particularized in the table. 



•Food of adult Sparrows. 



January. — Customary food: Corn from stacks and from poultry yards ; seeds of all 

 kinds. Occasional food : Refuse corn, such as is scattered in roads and would never 

 be of use ; maize. Capsules of moss (H. H. Slater). 



February. — Customary food: Corn from stacks and poultry yards. Occasional food : 

 Seeds; buds of gooseberries (G. Roberts). 



March. — Customary food : Corn wherever they can get it. Occasional food : Young 

 tops of peas, radish, cabbage, and cauliflower; seeds (Wilson) ; freshly-sown barley 

 and oats. 



April. — Customary food: Corn ; vegetable matter. Occasional food : Freshly-sown 

 barley and oats ; oblong green seeds, not identified ; caterpillars. 



May. — Customary food : Corn; vegetable matter; seeds. Occasional food : Young 

 pea-pods and leaves of peas; gooseberry blossoms and young gooseberries; small 

 beetles; caterpillars of the brimstone moth, and white-cabbage butterflies (J. Haw- 

 ley) ; turnip seed (A. Hepburn and R.Lowe) ; hay seed (C. L. Buxton); sprouts of 

 young barley, half an inch long; pollen of the sycamore tree and applet; mangel- 

 wurzel leaves (B. B. Sapwell). 



June. — Customary food : Corn ; vegetable matter ; peas ; seeds of various sorts. 

 Occasional food: Gooseberries and other fruits ; lettuce (A.Willis); small beetles; 

 mangel-wurzel leaves \ (B. B. Sapwell). 



July.— Customary food : Young wheat, barley, aud oats ; vegetable matter ; seeds 

 of various weeds. Occasional food : Peas ; small beetles ; beans (A. Willis) ; seeds of 

 wild spinach (A. Willis). 



* If the pigs have barley meal they rob them of some of it, as well as any other food 

 which is given to them. 



t It seems that the actual blossom is not eaten, but rather that a portion of it is 

 masticated for the drop of nectar at the base of the petals. For the same reason the 

 crocus and other garden flowers are destroyed. The blossoms of fruit trees seem to 

 be attacked for the pollen. 



tMr. R. Lowe has observed them feeding on the young unopened buds of Swede 

 turnips just bursting into flower for seed.— (Report on Observations on Injurious 

 Insects, 1883.) 



