682 
BIRDS OF NEW MEXICO 
Nest. —About houses, or in trees; bulky, made largely of dried grasses. Eggs: 
4 to 7, thickly spotted with dark brown and purplish. 
Food. —Of 522 stomachs examined, 22 contained wheat, 327 oats (doubtless 
mostly from horse droppings), 71 corn, 57 fruit seed (mainly mulberries), 102 grass 
seed, and 85 weed seed. The destruction of weed seed counts in its favor, and in 
From Biological Survey 
Fig. 116. English Sparrows (male and female) 
In unlawful possession of a nesting box provided for a 
native bird 
exceptional cases it has been found useful as a destroyer of insect pests; but under 
normal conditions its choice of insects is often unfavorable; for in the examination, 
while 47 stomachs contained noxious insects, 50 contained beneficial, and 31 insects 
of no economic importance. Moreover, it destroys fruit, as cherries, grapes, pears, 
and peaches, buds and flowers of cultivated trees, shrubs, and vines; in the garden 
it eats seeds as they ripen, and nips off tender young vegetables, especially peas and 
lettuce as they appear above ground. It also damages wheat and other grains, 
whether newly sown, ripening, or in shocks. 
General Habits. —As Doctor Dearborn puts it baldly, the English 
Sparrow, “like the rat among mammals, is cunning, destructive, and 
filthy.” But its most serious fault is its attitude toward our native 
birds. As he says, “it reduces the number of some of our most useful 
and attractive native birds, as Bluebirds, House Wrens, Purple Martins, 
Tree Swallows, Cliff Swallows, and Barn Swallows, by destroying their 
eggs and young and by usurping their nesting places. It attacks other 
familiar species, as the Robin, Red-eyed Vireo, Catbird, and Mock¬ 
ingbird, causing them to desert parks and shady streets of towns. 
