I s THE RELATION OF SPARROWS TO AGRICULTURE. 
placed in the cage met with a similar fate. Stinging insects were 
qoI given the song sparrow, but some English sparrows to which they 
were offered refused to touch them; which seems to indicate thai 
sparrows arc able to <list inguish bel ween s1 inging and si ingless insects 
that resemble each other closely. Spiders were eaten by the song 
sparrow with a relish that helped to explain the frequency with which 
they are found during stomach examinations. A lace-wing fly. an 
insect of t he niosi nauseat Ing odor, was also eagerly devoured. St ink- 
bugs of the genera Brochymena and Euschistus were refused; but 
smaller bugs of the families Reduviidae and Lygaeidae, though strong 
scented, proved to be exceedingly palatable; and another ill-smelling 
bug, t he common water-si rider ( Hydrotn chus sp. ). was eaten without 
hesitation. Small brown species of leaf-hoppers and a green form 
(Diedrocepkcda) were offered to the song sparrow and were quickly 
snapped up. showing thai some device other than ill flavor probably 
protects t hem ordinarily, since leaf-hoppers, i hough often exceedingly 
abundant where sparrows occur, seldom, if ever, form any significant 
part of the food. 
Several experiments were made with Lepidoptera. A salt-marsh- 
caterpillar moth (Leucarctia <i<-ni<t~). a white and yellow insect warn- 
ingly colored and possessing a powerful odor, was given to the song 
sparrow, bul was refused. Then a yellow swallow-tail butterfly 
( PapUio hi runs), also a warningly colored insect, but not having a rank 
smell, was liberated in the cage. It flew againsl the sparrow, fright- 
ening him badly; but in five minutes 1 he bird had recovered his cour- 
age, and, giving chase to the butterfly, captured it. after several 
minutes of lively fluttering, and finally succeeded in killing it and 
eating some of the viscera. If the chase had occurred out of doors, 
the butterfly would have had nodifliculty in getting away. Medium- 
sized brown millers (Noctuidae) were eaten witli ureal relish, despite 
the facl that they were seldom found during stomach examinations, 
which suggests the possibility of their being overlooked because of 
the difficulty of recognizing their remains among the comminuted 
contents of stomachs. It is not improbable that these insects are 
frequently eaten by some species of sparrows. 
Some experiments in feeding the song sparrow with different kinds 
of seeds were attempted, but he did not lend himself with any degree 
of enthusiasm to this line of work. Lamb's-quarters, amaranth, and 
polygonums were frequently placed in the cage, but only starvation 
could bring him to eal any of them, probably because he had been 
supplied too long with canary seed, which seemed to suit his palate. 
Experiments with dandelion and amaranth seeds have already been 
referred t<» (see pp. 22 and 26). The seeds of chickweed and pigeon- 
grass were eaten wit h great relish. It was inter* si ing to note the way 
in which 1 he bird hunted for food of \\\\-> kind. He searched about the 
bottom of t he cam 1 , sometimes hopping, sometimes walking, and when 
