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General habits and economic status not differing greatly from those of 
the Purple Finch. 
House Sparrow. English sparrow. Passer domesticus. L, 6-50. Plate LII A. 
Male: striped with chestnut and black on back; crown and broad bar from eye 
to shoulders, slate; cheeks and below, white, with extensive black throat and breast patch. 
Female: general dull olive or dirty white below; back streaked with olive and brown; a 
white wing-bar. 
Distinctions. Black bib of the male is distinctive. Females have an olive suggestion 
and might be confused with the female Purple Finch were it not that they are unstreaked 
below. The female or autumn plumages of the Bobolink are somewhat suggestive of this 
plumage, but the pronounced streakiness above and the general yellowness are quite 
distinctive of the Bobolink. With a little observation of the species in our streets or barn- 
yards, no one need confuse this species with anything else. 
Field Marks. The characteristic notes and chirrups of the House Sparrow make the 
best recognition mark in the field. The male carries a conspicuous black bib and throat 
and prominent white wing-bars. 
Distribution. Originally distributed over all Europe and most of Asia. Now found 
throughout North America to the limits of settlements and in places beyond. 
This bird is not native to America, but is one of our most undesirable 
importations from Europe. In spite of its obvious seed-eating habits and 
structure, it was originally introduced as a caterpillar destroyer. It 
does, of course, like nearly all birds, sometimes eat caterpillars, but does 
not approximate in this direction the capacity of the birds it has displaced. 
Being a bird of cities and barnyards most of its activities are in localities 
where there is plenty of food of non-insectivorous character, garbage, waste 
grain, etc. In the autumn, it makes excursions into the country and 
visits fields in large flocks, mostly after harvest when waste grain is abund- 
ant, but occasionally before, and then causes considerable loss. Its food 
habits thus are harmful or not according to circumstances, and perhaps 
the balance lies well in its favour. The principal other objection to the 
House Sparrow are two in number. It drives more useful species away 
and it is very dirty about buildings. 
The House Sparrow drives other birds away by three methods: 
monopolizing the food supply; occupying their nesting places; and by 
pugnacious and bulldozing habits. During the nesting season while the 
young are being fed they come into direct competition with other species 
depending for the support of their young on the same insect forms (the 
young of all Passerine birds require insects, though those of this species 
are not long dependent upon them) . Thus far perhaps they may be nearly 
as useful as the forms they displace, but most of the displaced birds are 
continuous insect hunters and the House Sparrow only a seasonal one. 
After nesting duties are over they again turn their attention to waste 
material and become of smaller importance, whereas the superseded birds 
continue to be useful through the season. The House Sparrows are with 
us through the winter, showing no tendency to migrate, hence they are 
on the ground in the early spring, and when our native summer residents, 
which are with only one or two exceptions more or less migratory either 
as species or individuals, arrive, they find the most attractive nesting sites 
already occupied. The difficulty of keeping Sparrows out of nesting boxes 
is proof enough of this situation. They are quarrelsome, also, and though, 
when once established, most native species are quite able to hold their 
own against aggression, they do not like the constant turmoil in which 
they must engage when in the vicinity of the House Sparrow. Hence 
few other birds care to live in their immediate neighbourhood. 
