83 
beginning to reoccupy their old haunts. The information 
gained in this inquiry, however, does not confirm this belief, 
for every county, except Suffolk, Dukes, Barnstable and 
Nantucket, send reports of an increase of these birds. The 
only reports of an increase in the cities come from Fitch- 
burg, Lowell and Waltham; all the rest come from towns, 
and many from the smaller and more remote villages. All 
this seems to indicate that, outside the larger cities, the 
sparrows are still increasing in numbers and extending their 
baleful influence. 
Evidence recently submitted to, and published by, Mr. 
C. A. Feed, editor of “ American Ornithology / 7 1 from cor- 
respondents in different parts of the country, indicates that 
the sparrow is still destructive to other birds. The spar- 
row is largely responsible for the decrease in swallows, mar- 
tins and wrens. For more than thirty years it has driven 
these and other birds from their former breeding places, 
torn down their nests and killed them and their young. 
The tree swallows and martins have been driven from the 
bird houses. The nests of the cliff swallows have been torn 
down or occupied by the sparrows. The barn swallows 
have been driven from the buildings they formerly occupied, 
and because of this persecution the wrens have actually dis- 
appeared from the neighborhood of towns and villages. If 
the sparrow is still increasing and spreading out into the 
country, we may look for a continued decrease of swallows 
and wrens. 
Hawks. — Every one will admit that hawks kill birds. 
Thirty-four observers consider them seriously destructive. 
It is to be noted, however, that, as in the case of the fox, 
the chief evidence is given by gunners. Nevertheless, it is 
probably true that, after man, the great bird destroyer, 
birds are among the greatest enemies of birds. No other 
animals can pursue birds through the air. No others can 
follow them in their vast migrations, discover them so far 
off, or overtake and strike them so quickly. We must, 
then, look among rapacious birds themselves for some of 
the most potent checks to bird increase. 
1 Vol. 4, No. 5, May, 1904. 
