634 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 
516 stomachs, and probably it is only 
under exceptional circumstances that it 
does any damage in this way. Evidently 
neither the farmer nor the fruit grower 
has much to fear from the white-crowned 
sparrow. The little fruit it eats is mostly 
wild, and the grain eaten is waste or vol- 
unteer. 
English Sparrow 
Passer domesticus 
Length, about six and one-fourth 
inches. Its incessant chattering, quarrel- 
some disposition, and abundance and fa- 
miliarity about human habitations dis- 
tinguish it from our native sparrows. 
Range 
Resident throughout the United States 
and Southern Canada. 
Habits and Economie Status 
Almost universally condemned since 
its introduction into the United States, 
the English sparrow has not only held 
its own, but has ever increased in num- 
bers and extended its range in spite of 
all opposition. Its habit of driving out or 
even killing more beneficial species and 
the defiling of buildings by its droppings 
and by its own unsightly structures, are 
serious objections to this sparrow. More- 
over, in rural districts, it is destructive 
to grain, fruit, peas, beans and other 
vegetables. On the other hand, the bird 
feeds to some extent on a large number 
of insect pests, and this fact points to 
the need of a new investigation of the 
present economic status of the species, 
especially as it promises to be of service 
in holding in check the newly introduced 
alfalfa weevil, which threatens the alfalfa 
industry in Utah and neighboring states. 
In cities most of the food of the English 
Sparrow is waste material secured from 
the streets. 
Crow Blackbird 
Quiscalus quiscula 
Length, 12 inches. Shorter by at least 
three inches than the other grackles with 
trough-shaped tails. Black, with purplish, 
bluish and bronze reflections. 
Range 
Breeds throughout the United States 
west to Texas, Colorado and Montana, 
and in Southern Canada; winters in the 
southern half of the breeding range. 
Habits and Economie Status 
This blackbird 1s a beautiful species, 
and is well known from its habit of con- 
gregating in city parks and nesting there 
year after year. Like other species which 
habitually assemble in great flocks, it is 
capable of inflicting much damage on any 
crop it attacks, and where it is harmful a 
judicious reduction of numbers is prob- 
ably sound policy It shares with the 
crow and blue jay the evil habit of pillag- 
ing the nests of small birds of eggs and 
young. Nevertheless it does much good 
by destroying insect pests, especially 
white grubs, weevils, grasshoppers and 
caterpillars. Among the caterpillars are 
army worms and other cutworms. When 
blackbirds gather in large flocks, as in 
the Mississippi valley, they may greatly 
damage grain, either when first sown or 
when in the milk. In winter they sub- 
sist mostly on weed seed and waste 
grain. 
Brewer’s Blackbird 
EHuphagus cyanocephatlus 
Length, 10 inches. Its glossy purplish 
head distinguishes it from other black- 
birds that do not show in flight a trough- 
shaped tail. 
Range 
Breeds in the West, east to Texas, Kan- 
Sas and Minnesota, and north to South- 
ern Canada; winters over most of the 
United States breeding range, south to 
Guatemala. 
Habits and Economic Status 
Very numerous in the West and in fall 
gathers in immense flocks, especially 
about barnyards and corrals. During the 
cherry season in California Brewer’s 
blackbird is much in the orchards. In 
one case they were seen to eat freely of 
cherries, but when a neighboring fruit 
raiser began to plow his orchard almost 
every blackbird in the vicinity was upon 
the newly opened ground and close at 
the plowman’s heels in its eagerness to 
get the insects exposed by the plow. 
Caterpillars and pupae form the largest 
item of animal food (about 12 per cent). 
Many of these are cutworms, and cotton 
