THE PRESENT STATUS OF THE ENGLISH SPARROW 
PROBLEM IN AMERICA. 
BY A. H. ESTABROOK. 
The English Sparrow ( Passer domesticus), was introduced into 
the United States in the fall of 1850. The first few pairs were 
liberated at Brooklyn, N. Y. In the few years then following, 
many others were liberated at different cities in the United States, 
so that by 1875, they had spread over practically the whole area 
east of the Mississippi. From the time of its introduction, there 
was a storm of protest from the practical naturalists who foresaw 
the result of its introduction, from its behavior in other countries. 
They knew its record in countries where it had been a longer 
resident. The people who introduced the sparrow believed that 
it would be an insectivorous bird, and would take care of the 
canker worm which was then troubling the people very much. 
The canker worm is no longer a pest, but its destruction by the 
sparrow is not granted by the ornithologists. E. H. Forbush, in 
his report on the Gypsy moth states that the sparrow has been 
measures to exterminate the species i 
6. Please state the facts and arguments, pro and con, which decide 
this problem in your own mind. Please send replies as early as possible — 
before June 1 — to the undersigned. It is hoped to gather a consensus 
of opinion from all parts of this Country and Canada. The data will be 
published as soon as possible. 
Signed, 
March 5, 1906. A. H. Estabrook, 
Clark University, Worcester, Mass. 
From this questionnaire and from letters sent out by me per- 
sonally, I have received about eighty answers. I also wrote to all 
