40 THE EELATION OF SPARROWS TO AGRICULTURE. 



It will thus be seen that snowy conditions alter somewhat the tisnal 

 characteristics of sparrows' food habits. The native sparrows trav- 

 eled farther afield and consumed the less palatable weed seed, which 

 w^onld not ordinarily be eaten in quantity, and even the English spar- 

 rows were once observed feeding on weed seed out in the open. 



jji I A series of observations was made in a most favorable localitj^ in 



the District of Columbia from the last of November, 1899, to the end 

 of Februarj^, 1900. The topography of the place was studied, and 



IIJIj notes were made of the exact distribution of the sparrows found there, 



the actual amounts of the various kinds of weed seed destroyed, and 

 details relating to the dissemination of seeds b}^ the birds. The place 

 comprises about 10 acres, traversed by a shrubby brook and almost, 

 surrounded by deciduous trees. On one side of the brook the land' 

 slopes very gently upward from the water, while on the other there is; 

 a steep bank of varying degrees of declivity. Where the slope is; 

 steepest, so abrupt in fact that cultivation has proved impracticable,, 

 as is attested by a grove of venerable beeches, an almost perpendicu- 



!||| lar cur^^ng bank marks an old course of the brook when it swung; 



|ji' some 50 yards from its present channel. On the other side, a little 



il' farther down, a bowing curve marks another part of the abandoned 



' channel. The bank here is abrupt on the side worn by the stream 



: and on the other slopes gently downward to a cultivated field bej^ond, 



'',;, the level of which has been lowered by the washine: awav of the soil 



by rains. On the brink of the bank is a row of cedar trees. At the 

 time of the investigation the land between the two beds of the stream 

 as well as that beyond the bank had been in corn. The vegetation 

 ! of the brook, its two abandoned curves, and a briery tributarj' near 



^» ! the upstream end of the tract formed the cover and to a considerable 



s|,[j|l extent the feeding grounds of from 100 to 200 native sparrows. The 



,/""; food supply of this cover consisted of giant ragweed, spreading pani- 



cum, and climbing false buckwheat. The last was most abundant 

 I along the brook, where it climbed over the briers and shrubs, even 



i ascending and festooning some of the trees. The giant ragweed, 



higher than a man's head, formed a forest of stalks between the brook 

 and the old channel on the steep side, and was common at the mouth 

 of the tributary. Spreading panicum grew on the concave declivi- 

 tous faces of the banks and in the tributary. It was less abundant; 

 at the mouth of the tributary where it was mixed with the giant rag-- 

 weed. The other feeding grounds comprised the weedy land betweem 

 the former and present channels, to a slight extent the gentle slope 

 which, except along the stream, had only a scanty growth of weeds,. 

 '^ and finallj^ and of great importance, the steep slope on which wheat. 



\ had been grown and which bristled with ragweed, and a vegetable 



garden on more level ground above, where was a luxuriant crop of 

 crab-grass, pigeon-grass, and amaranth. These several situations 

 ; naturally formed almost ideal resorts for the native sparrows. 



