348 THE ENGLISH SPARROW IN AMERICA. 



said that the Wirral farmers of Cheshire were paying 6d. per dozen for all Sparrows 

 killed, and some idea of the fecundity of the pest might be formed from the fact that 

 without appreciably affecting their numbers in that district, no less a sum than £14 

 15s. 6d. had been recently spent in that way, representing the destruction of seven 

 thousand one hundred and ninety-two Sparrows. 



[Xew England Farmer (Boston, Mass.), 1886.1 



In a report to the Royal Agricultural Society of England, by its consulting entomol- 

 ogist, Miss Eleanor A. Ormerod, the following conclusions are drawn regarding the 

 habits of this much-discussed little foreigner : 



"With regard to the special item of Sparrows, I feel no doubt that measures should 

 be taken to check their enormous increase, and where communication has been sent 

 me from districts in which these birds were known to do serious damage to the crops 

 in autumn, I have strongly advised that their number should be lessened. We do 

 not find from examination of their contents that they feed on corn red-maggot, corn 

 thrips, corn aphis, or any other corn insect, nor have we any observations of fields in- 

 fested by these huge flocks being freer than other places from insect attack. From 

 careful observations indifferent places, extending over a period of from one to fifteen 

 years, we do not find any diminution of insects round the farm buildings where the 

 Sparrows greatly resort, but find that they have been observed in many cases to 

 drive away true insect-feeding birds." 



It should be remembered that the term " corn" is applied in England to the small 

 grains, wheat, oats, barley, etc., and not to our American maize. 



TESTIMONY RELATING MAINLY TO THE SPARROW IN AUSTRALIA, 



FROM THE DRAFT PROGRESS REPORT OF THE BOARD OF INVESTIGATION APPOINTED 

 BY THE GOVERNOR OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA IN 1881. 



[On August 4, 1881, a board of investigation consisting of eight members was ap- 

 pointed by the governor of the Province of South Australia with " full power and 

 authority diligently to inquire into and report upon the alleged injuries caused to 

 fruit-growers, gardeners, farmers, and others by Sparrows, and to consider the desir- 

 ability of taking steps for their destruction, and to report upon the best means to be 

 employed therefor." 



On August 31, this board submitted the following progress report :] 



DRAFT PROGRESS REPORT. 



To His Excellency, Sir William Francis Drummond Jervois, major-general in Her 

 Majesty's army, * * * governor and commander-in-chief in aud over the Prov- 

 ince of South Australia and the dependencies thereof, etc. : 



May it please your Excellency : We, the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the 

 alleged damages caused by Sparrows to horticulture and agriculture in South Aus- 

 tralia and into remedial measures aud to report thereon, having proof of the evil ex- 

 isting in great force and over large districts of country, and being convinced that their 

 destruction is urgent before another fruit season sets in, and before another nesting- 

 season (now beginning) shall swell their numbers, beg to present a Progress Report : 

 I. We append an analysis of correspondence on the questions of inquiry. This 

 shows — 



(1) That the Sparrow is established over an area of the colony comprising Adelaide 

 and its suburbs from the sea-coast eastward well up to the hills ; southwards to Happy 

 Valley, Coromandel Valley, and Willunga; northwards to Allendale, aud far on — 

 though we hope as. yet detached— at Beetaloo. In the southeast, Mount Gambier pos- 

 sesses a center of its own. 



