34 THE RELATION OF SPAEROWS TO AGEICULTURE. 



Grasshopper sparrows, the most insectivorous of all eastern spar- 

 rows, are birds of the open fields, just as many of the other species 

 are birds of the hedgerows. One or two pairs chose for their breed- 

 ing grounds one of the old cornfields just mentioned and raised their 

 families amid the brier tangles that claimed the field. No notes 

 were made of the feeding habits of these. Several pairs, however, 

 that nested in the adjoining hayfield were carefully studied. Among 

 the different insects fed to their young were grasshoppers of the 

 genera Hippiscus, Dissosieira, Melanoplus, Scudderia, and XipM- 

 dium; cutworms, army worms, and various related larv88 ; such bugs 

 as Alydus pilosulus and Hymenarcys nervosa; and various spiders, 

 including Oxyopes salticus. The parent birds ate spiders and grass- 

 hoppers of the same kinds, with beetles of the genera Systena, Sitones, 

 and Atcenius, and such bugs as Alydus, Corizus, and Trichopepla 

 semivittaia. 



The record of the English sparrows at the Marshall Hall farm 

 shows nothing to their credit. They have reduced the wrens in num- 

 ber, completely crowded out the bluebirds, 'and have stolen many of 

 the nesting burrows in the exi30sed face of the bluff properly belong- 

 ing to the bank swallows that dailj' come to the farm to circle over 

 the fields for insects. Their slight value as insect destroyers could 

 very profitablj" be dispensed with if the services of the indigenous 

 species which the}- have driven away could be restored. Their num- 

 ber seems to vary from 30 to 200. Each night they roost with the 

 chickens among some cedar trees by the house, and in the daytime 

 usually feed with the chickens and hogs or glean grain around the 

 various buildings of the farm, particularly the corncrib. Such food 

 as they secure in the field is usuall}- grain, but very rarely weed seed. 

 They damage the ripening oat and wheat crops, partly by pilfering* 

 the grain, but more by breaking down the stalks, and join the crows 

 in their attacks on corn in the milk, though in this case they are able 

 to do but little harm. Their habits contrast strikingly with those of 

 the several native species frequenting the farm. 



The summer observations on the two farms, especiallj^ on that at 

 Marshall Hall, give interesting and suggestive data concerning the 

 relation of the native sparrows to agriculture. They show that the 

 nesting habitats of the different species are so distinct and varied as 

 to be complementary^ to one another. Chipping sparrows nest around 

 the buildings, field sparrows in worn-out fields and brierj^ pastures, 

 vesper and grasshopper sparrows in level hayfields, and song spar- 

 rows in gullies and moist meadows and along waterways, while j uncos 

 and white-throats have their nesting places in the high, lonely moun- 

 tain clearings of the north. The ranges of the various species become 

 less distinct after breeding time is over; but, though they blend and 

 overlap, each species seems to continue its own peculiar work. 

 During this period chipping sparrows cover a wide range — garden, 



