92 



THE EELATION OF SPAER0W3 TO AGEICULTUKE. 



About 2 percent of the food consists of such invertebrates as spiders 

 and some few snails. The spiders belong to such terrestrial forms as 

 the Lj^cosidse and other ground-runners. There is, however, one 

 notable exception in the case of a brood of nestlings. These were 

 fed on a non terrestrial spider {Argiope), a large, venomous-looking 

 (though harmless) object as it rests in its web, resplendent with glossy 

 black and brilliant yellow. Its gaudy color is supposed to be a 

 protective device against birds. 



From the limited investigations thus far made, the dickcissel, like 

 the lark sparrow, vesper sparrow, and grasshopper sjDarrow, proves to 

 be a most useful insect destroj- er, whose services to the farmer are 

 important. It will be found especially helpful in keeping down grass- 

 hoppers, which always threaten to become over abundant and cause 

 great destruction among the crops. 



ENGLISH SPARROW. 



(Passer domesticus. ) 



The English si^arrow, or, more properly speaking, the house spar- 

 row of Europe and Asia (see fig. 10), was introduced into the United 



States about 1850 

 and has increased 

 and spread until 

 now it is one of 

 the most abundant 

 birds east of the 

 Mississippi River. 

 It does not, how- 

 ever, occur in the 

 lower part of Flor- 

 ida and certain 

 parts (^f Mississippi 

 and Louisiana, nor 

 in some portions of 

 Maine; Minnesota, 

 and North Dakota. 

 West of the Missis- 

 sippi River its range 



T^ -.o n^ «T,i, forms a tongue-like 



Fig. 19.— English sparrow. * 



area extending to 

 the base of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, and includes Missouri, 

 Kansas, Arkansas, Indian Territory, and parts of South Dakota, 

 Texas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska. It is also found in isolated localities 

 west of the Rocky Mountains, principally about Great Salt Lake, San 

 Francisco Bay, near Portland, Oi-eg., and on Puget Sound, AVashing- 

 ton. . In Canada it is established to a greater or lesser degree iu all 

 the eastern provinces. It has recently penetrated to Manitoba, but 

 has not yet otherwise secured a foothold to the north and w^est of 



