The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-11-11
USEFULNESS OF SPARROWS
4 Bulletin Issued by the BioIogi
cal Survey.
The Native Varieties IEriyHIed a.
De>troycrs Of NeedS-Thc English
Kind. How ever. l. Denounced a. "a
PcSt-A Crusade Against Il.


Dc>troycrs of Wccd>-Thc English
Kind. However. l. Denounced a.
Pc>t-A Crusade Against Il.
Sylvester j.. Judd. Pm. L. Assistant
of the Biological Survey. has under the
direction of the Chief Of the Survey. c.
Hart Merriam. just issued "a bulletin
dealing with the Relation of SVarrows
To- Agriculture" The bulletin sets forth
the results OF an Investigation OF the food
habits OF native sparr0ws. based on eN-
tended observations. and shows the
value of these birds as weed
q, -rroyers. Extensive p'St-mortcm cN-
amiHatious have been held, and Mr. Judd
announces that 5Z55 stDmachs of spar
rows have been inspected.
Dr- Judd says in has Introduction.
The native sparrows are the most
abundant and widely distributed Of The
small birds iuhdDltIug the rural districts
of the United States. Wherever there are
farms these characteristic little birds nay
be- found nesting in orchard, berry patch.
vineyard. or hsdggrOW, DUiiyeuIuE the
sETubb,ry from dOOrward 20 outlying
utlt with their songs. or I'm winter rising
from the ground ana fUTteriuE from bush
TO bUsh before one who myades their
huuutS- As group they are constantly
present ON cultivated land although
many of them retire To tho South during
The winter and their places are taken by
other species from the North.
SparrOWs are well known. and have
: figured frequently in JTaithplogic8I LIVER
allure. but the position they occupy in re-
l lation 10 agriculture has heretofore re-
CeIVed only casual c8nEilsTa ti8n- II Is
evident that a group OF birds so album
daHt. SO widely distributed. and i'm such
constant association with farms and gar
Ggus must play an important part i'm rural
economy, and That thorough iDYesUgd-
ton of their food habits should be- useful.
The results of such an Investigation are
embodied In the present paper and amply
demonstrate the vaNue Of these birds To
| the agricultuTist-a value greater than
/ that Of any other group OF birds whose
economic status has thus far been inves-
/ tEated. The native Sp8TrOws contrast
markedly I'm this respect with the intro
duced English sparrow. the peTuiciaUs
I habits Of which have formed the 81 beet
( Of "A S-Scial report. This 7 aturalizsd
] sparrow IL "a pest wherever II Is found.
while the Hativ" sparTOws ere well WOT-
/ thy OF protection a.ld encouragement"
I DR. Judds report partakes Of the ma
! ture of a defence Of the native sparrow,
/ which suffers under the general accuse
+ ton Of being a crop destroyer In this
f connection he says.
1T is hardly 20 De expected that such
I seed eaters as sparrows should destroy
T as great a quantity Of insect pests as
birds that areeuJirely iusectivoTous When
II is FOUND that in the food of the native
sparrow such pests average but p per
. cent, il Is only what might b. expected
4 sun this percentage, when compared with
4 the percentages found in the cases Of
I some other birds. is no mean showing
. The red-wiuged blacEbird's is less than
. 20 per cent the catbir5's but Is per cent
. the cowbirds l3 per cent and the crow
/ blackbird's only 10 per cent
v-t-f 1l-frCrf~E tho mn rF--..
( sparrows are unrivaled- In a garden
. within two months they viii some times
. destroy 93 per cent Of such weeds as pig
. e0u-grass and ragweed After they have
. consumed most Of these seeds they turn
f to those Of other weeds, which furnish
( them with q b0uuufuI supply of food an
through the winter and even well into the
/ spring. Weed seed forms more than half
+ OF their food for the entire year and DIR
. ing the colder half Of the year IL c0usti-
. tutes about f0ur-tifths Of the food Of
/ many species ....
/ When the food Of the native sparr0ws
. is divided into three classes. the neutral
/ part proves 20 De small not exceeding a
( third of all that is eaten. the injurious
/ part very small. and the beneficial part
much larger than that Of most birds. and
/ from five TO ten times as great as the
. injurious part We may therefore safely
/ conclude that as a class. these small
/ birds are well worthy or our protection
The English sparrow comes ia for no
: praise. however. DIT. Judd stigmatizing il
as pest and asserting that its character
/ is obnoxious, continuing as follows.
There is little 10 be said in favor Of
/ the English sparrow. It's iusectivJr0Gs
/ habits are credltable as far as they 10.
but they are Insignificant because the diet
- rH| FrrF
u IS In the vegetable fare that the value
Of most S9arr0WS consists. vet in he case
81 the English sparrow the damage 10
grain far OyerbaIauces the benefit OF
1 weed-sced destruction. Adding 10 this the
injury it causes 20 buildings and statues
IN cities. there Is no escape from the con-
clusiou that the bird is a serious pest. the
/ eXierminatlou Of which would he an un-
I mixed blessing.
The obnoxious character Of the Eng
] liSh sparrow Is widely recognized and uU-
I rerous attempts. by means Of bouuties
and otherwise have been made 70 rid the
/ country Of its presence. but with little
success The wsriness of the bird. its
] h4Tdlhpod, and it, prOdIE1OUs feCUudity
have thus Tar rendered all such efforts
I futile.
In the city Of Boston. during 1893 a
crusade Was iuauguTated through the -f-
forts Of the American Society Of Bird
{ kestoTer.- From March Is 10 April . six
men were employed In the Common and
I Public Garden DESTROYING the nests and
plugged Up. 800 nests destroyed. and 90.
/ eggs broken. but no birds were killed. IL
I IS claimed that nearly half Of the spar
I rows which normally breed on the Com
/ mon and Public Garden were driven
I away In May only 90 TO coo pairs Of
I sparrows were found. while the number
/ Of pairs counted In the parks before the
I sparrow war began amounted % 500
| Much Is always to be learned from az
I experiment of this kind and other cities
I should profit by BOstOU's experience
There is reason to believe. however. that
| the present rapid supplanting of horse
power by electricity viii. by reducing In.
! food supply of the birds. do more toward
I diminishing their numbers iu the city
parks than any plan for restricting then
| reproduction
The amount Of expense that MAY
probably be incurred tn combating IN,
| sparrow will depend on circumstance. as
in the case OF the house rat and mouse
but il should be borne ia mind that tht
bounty system has proved 20 be only ar
/ cNtrayaRaut failure.
ST. LOUIS FAIR BUILDINGS.