Bulletin - United States National Museum

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United States National. Museum. Bulletin 211. LIFE HISTORIES OF. NORTH AMERICAN BLACKBIRDS, ORIOLES,. TANAGERS, AND ALLIES Order Passeriformes: Families Ploceidae, Icteridae,. By. and Thraupidae. ARTHUR CLEVELAND BENT. SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. .. WASHINGTON,. D. C.. .. 1958.

Publications of the U. S. National. Museum. scientific publications of the National Museum include two known, respectively, as Proceedings and Bulletin. The Proceedings series, begun in 1878, is intended primarily as a medium for the publication of original papers based on the collections of the National Museum, that set forth newly acquired facts in biology, anthropology, and geology, with descriptions of new forms and reviCopies of each paper, in pamphlet form, are sions of limited groups. distributed as published to libraries and scientific organizations and The to specialists and others interested in the different subjects. dates at which these separate papers are published are recorded in. The. series. the table of contents of each of the volumes. The series of Bulletins, the first of which was issued in 1875, contains. comprising monographs of large zoological groups and other general systematic treatises (occasionally in several volumes), faunal works, reports of expeditions, catalogs of type specimens, special collections, and other material of similar nature. The majority of the volumes are octavo in size, but a quarto size has been adopted in a few instances. In the Bulletin series appear volumes under the heading Contributions from the United States National Herbarium, in octavo form, published by the National Museum since separate. publications. 1902, which contain papers relating to the botanical collections of. Museum. The present work forms No. 211. the. of the Bulletin series.. Remington Kellogg, Museum.. Director, United States National. UNITED STATES. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON 1958 :. For II. sale. by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Washington 25, D. C. - Price $2.25 (paper). Office.

CONTENTS Page. vn. Introduction Order Passeriformes. Family Ploceidae: Weaver finches Passer domesticus domesticus: English sparrow. Habits 23 24 24 27. Distribution. Passer montanus montanus: European tree sparrow. Habits Distribution. Family Icteridae: Meadowlarks, blackbirds, and troupials Dolichonyx oryzivorus: Bobolink. 28 28 28. Habits Distribution Sturnella. magna magna: Eastern meadowlark. Habits Distribution Sturnella. magna. argutula: Southern. meadowlark. Habits Distribution Sturnella. magna. hoopesi: Rio. Grande meadowlark. Habits Distribution Sturnella. magna. lilianae:. Arizona meadowlark. Habits Distribution Sturnella neglecta neglecta: Western. meadowlark. Habits Distribution Sturnella neglecta coujluenta: Pacific western. meadowlark. Habits Distribution Xanthocephalusxanthocephalus: Yellow-headed blackbird. Habits Distribution Agclaius phoeniceus phoeniceus: Eastern redwing. Habits Distribution Agelaius phoeniceus mearnsi: Florida redwing. Habits Distribution Agelaius phoeniceus floridanus: Maynard's redwing. Habits Distribution Agelaius phoeniceus. littoralis:. Gulf coast redwing. Habits Distribution. ,,..... ..... 49 53 53 78 80 80 82 82 82 83 83 83 83 84 84 96 98 98 98 99 99 120 123 123 147 151 151. 153 153 153 154 155 155 156.

IV. U. S.. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211. —. Family Icteridae: Meadowlarks, blackbirds, and troupials Continued Agelaius phoeniceus megapolamus: Rio Grande redwing Habits Distribution Agelaius phoeniceus arctolegus: Giant redwing. Habits. Habits. Nevada redwing. Habits Distribution Agelaius phoeniceus caurinus: Northwestern redwing. Habits Distribution Agelaius phoeniceus mailliardorum: San Francisco redwing. ..... Habits Distribution Agelaius phoeniceus californicus: Bicolored redwing. Habits Distribution Agelaius phoeniceus aciculatus:. Kern redwing. Habits Distribution Agelaius phoeniceus neutralis: San Diego redwing. Habits Distribution Agelaius phoeniceus sonoriensis: Sonora redwing. Habits Distribution. Agelaius. Tricolored redwing. tricolor:. Habits Distribution Agelaius humeralis: Tawny-shouldered blackbird. Habits. Orchard. 191. oriole. 191. Habits Distribution. graduacauda audubonii: Audubon's black-headed oriole Habits. Icterus. Distribution Icterus cucullatus sennetti: Sennett's. hooded. oriole. Habits Distribution Icterus cucullatus cucullatus: Swainson's Icterus cucullatus nelsoni:. Habits Distribution. 164 164 167 168 168 168 169 169 169 170 170 174 174 174 176 176 176 177 177 177 178 179 179 189 190 190 191. Distribution Icterus spurius:. 157 157 158 158 158 161 162 162 164. Distribution Agelaius phoeniceus fortis: Thick-billed redwing Distribution Agelaius phoeniceus nevadensis:. Page. hooded. oriole. Arizona hooded oriole. .. .. 207 210 210 215 215 215 218 219 220 220 226.

CONTENTS. V. —. Family Icteridae: Meadowlarks, blackbirds, and troupials Continued Icterus cucullalus californicus: California hooded oriole Habits Distribution Icterus cucullatus trochiloides:. San Lucas hooded. oriole. Habits Distribution. Mira Lichtenstein's. oriole. .. .. .. Western scarlet-headed. oriole. .. .. .. Icterus gularis tamaulipensis: Alta. Habits Distribution Icterus pustulatus microstictus:. Habits Distribution Icterus parisorum: Scott's oriole. Habits Distribution Icterus galbula: Baltimore oriole. Habits Distribution Icterus bullockii bullockii: Bullock's oriole. Habits Distribution Icterus bullockii parvus: Lesser Bullock's oriole. Habits Distribution. Euphagus carolinus. carolinus: Continental rusty blackbird. ..... Habits Distribution. Euphagus carolinus nigrans: Newfoundland rusty blackbird. .. .. .. Habits Distribution. Euphagus cyanocephalus: Brewer's blackbird Habits Distribution Cassidix mexicanus mexicanus: Boat-tailed grackle. Habits Distribution Cassidix mexicanus nelsoni: Sonoran boat-tailed grackle. Habits Cassidix mexicanus monsoni: Monson's boat-tailed grackle. ..... Habits Cassidix mexicanus prosopidicola: Mesquite boat-tailed grackle Habits Distribution Cassidix mexicanus major: Florida boat-tailed grackle. Habits Distribution Cassidix mexicanus torreyi: Eastern boat-tailed grackle. Habits Distribution. .. .. Page. 226 226 229 230 230 231 231 231. 236 237 237 238 239 239 245 247 247 266 270 270 279 281 281 282 282 282 296 300 300 301 302 302 332 335 335 350 351 351 351 351 352 352 356 357 357 364 365 365 374.

VI. U. S.. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211. Family Icteridae: Meadowlarks, blackbirds, and troupials. —Continued. Quiscalus quiscula stonei: Purple grackle. 374 374 387. Habits Distribution Quiscalus quiscula quiscula: Florida grackle. 391 391. Habits. 394 395 395 420. Distribution Quiscalus quiscula versicolor: Bronzed grackle. Habits Distribution Molothrus ater ater: Eastern brown-headed cowbird Habits Distribution Molothrus ater artemisiae: Nevada brown-headed cowbird Habits Distribution Molothrus ater obscurus: Dwarf brown-headed cowbird Habits Distribution Tangavius aeneus milleri: Miller's bronzed cowbird Habits Distribution Tangavius aeneus aeneus: Red-eyed bronzed cowbird Habits Distribution Family Thraupidae: Tanagers Piranga Ludoviciana: Western tanager Habits Distribution Piranga olivacea: Scarlet tanager Habits Distribution. Piranga flava dextra: Eastern hepatic tanager Habits Distribution. Piranga flava hepatica: Western hepatic tanager Habits Distribution. Piranga rubra rubra: Eastern summer tanager Habits Distribution. Piranga rubra cooperi: Cooper's summer tanager Habits Distribution Literature Cited. Index. Page. ..... 421 421 447 451 451 452 453 453 455 455 455 457 458. 458 466 466 466 466 477 479 479 488 492 492 492 492 492 495 496 496 504 507 507 509 510 533.

Introduction This is the twentieth in a series of bulletins of the United States National Museum on the life histories of North American birds. Previous numbers have been issued as follows: 107.. North American Diving Birds, August 1, 1919. North American Gulls and Terns, August 27, 1921. Histories of North American Petrels and Pelicans and Their. Life Histories of. 113. Life Histories of 121. Life. October. Allies,. 19, 1922.. North American Wild Fowl (part), May 25, 1923. North American Wild Fowl (part), June 27, 1925. Histories of North American Marsh Birds, March 11, 1927. Histories of North American Shore Birds (pt. 1), December 31, 1927. Histories of North American Shore Birds (pt. 2), March 24, 1929. Histories of North American Gallinaceous Birds, May 25, 1932. Histories of North American Birds of Prey (pt. 1), May 3, 1937. Histories of North American Birds of Prey (pt. 2), August 8, 1938. Histories of North American Woodpeckers, May 23, 1939. Histories of North American Cuckoos, Goatsuckers, Hummingbirds, and. 126. Life Histories of. 130. Life Histories of 135. Life 142. Life 146. Life 162. Life. 167. Life 170. Life 174. Life 176. Life. Their. Allies,. July 20, 1940.. North American Flycatchers, Larks, Swallows, and Their. 179. Life Histories of Allies,. May. 1942.. 8,. 191. Life Histories of. North American Jays, Crows, and Titmice, January. 27,. 1947. 195.. Life Histories of Allies,. 196. Life. July. North American Nuthatches, Wrens, Thrashers, and Their 1948.. 7,. Histories of. June. North American Thrushes, Kinglets, and Their. Allies,. 28, 1949.. 197. Life Histories of Allies,. June. North American Wagtails, Shrikes, Vireos, and Their. 21, 1950.. 203. Life Histories of. North American. Wood. Warblers, June 15, 1953.. The same. general plan has been followed, as explained in previous bulletins and need not be repeated here. The nomenclature of the 1931 Check-List of the American Ornithologists' Union, with its latest supplements, has been followed. Many who have contributed material for previous volumes have continued to cooperate. Receipt of material from over 530 contributors has been acknowledged previously. In addition to these, our thanks are due to the following new contributors: Hildegarde C. Allen, F. S. Barkalow, Jr., Ralph Bcebe, H. E. Bennett, A. J. Berger, Virgilio Biaggi, Jr., C. H. Blake, Don Bleitz, B. J. Blincoe, L. C. Brecher, Maurice Broun, J. H. Buckalew, H. L. Crockett, Ruby Curry, J. V. Dennis, M. S. Dunlap, J. J. Elliott, A. H. Fast, Edith VII.

— Vin. U.. S.. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211. H. Gerard, H. B. Goldstein, L. I. Grinnell, Horace Gullion, R. H. Hansman, W. R. Hecht, J. W. Hopkins, R. F. James, Verna R. Johnston, Malcolm Jollie, R. S. Judd, Louise de K. Lawrence, G. H. Lowery, J. M. Markle, D. L. McKinley, Lyle Miller, A. H. Morgan, R. A.' O'Reilly, K. C. Parkes, G. H. Parks, O. M. Root, Doris H. Speirs, E. A. Stoner, and R. B. Williams. If any contributor fails to find his or her name in this or in some previous volume, the author would be glad to be advised. As the demand for these bulletins is much greater than the supply, the names of those who have not contributed to the work within recent years will be dropped from the author's mailing list. Winsor M. Tyler rendered valuable assistance by reading and in-. K. Frey,. J.. Groskin, G.. W.. dexing four of the leading ornithological journals for references. He and Alfred O. Gross each contributed two complete life histories. Alexander F. Skutch, Alexander Sprunt, Jr., Laidlaw Williams, and Robert S. Woods have each contributed one complete life history. The greater part of the egg measurements were taken from the. United States National Museum by William George F. Harris, who also relieved the author of a vast amount of detail work by collecting and figuring hundreds of egg measurements and by collecting, sorting, and arranging several thousand nesting records to make up the "egg dates" paragraphs. Through the courtesy of the Fish and Wildlife Service, Mr. Chandler S. Robbins has compiled the migration paragraphs. The distribution data have been taken from advance sheets of the fifth edition of the A. O. U. "Check-List of North American birds." The author claims no credit and assumes no responsibility for these data, which are taken from the great mass of records on file in Washington. The manuscript for this bulletin was completed in 1949. Contributions received since then will be acknowledged later. Only information of great importance could be added. The reader is reminded again that this is a cooperative work; if he fails to find in these volumes anything that he knows about the birds, he can only blame himself for not having sent the information to register sheets of the. The Author..

Arthur Cleveland Bent Arthur Cleveland Bent died in his home in Taunton, Massachusetts, on December 30, 1954. In keeping with his ability, as a successful business man, to plan for eventualities he had long foreseen the improbability of his living to complete the Life Histories of North American Birds, and had taken steps to assure completion of the work. Quite naturally, he turned to the Nuttall Ornithological Club, which he had originally joined in 1888, later becoming one of the four Honorary Members in the history of that organization. He arranged through James Lee Peters for the Club to take ultimate charge. Subsequently, he chose me to head up a Committee of national distribution, largely ornithologists he designated. In addition to Mrs. Bent, whose cooperation has been invaluable, members of the Committee are Messrs. Arthur W. Argue in charge of photographs, Charles H. Blake, Alfred O. Gross, William George F. Harris, so well known already in this series for his work on eggs, Frederick C. Lincoln, who has handled so much of the detail in Washington, Robert A. Norris, Christopher M. Packard, and Lawrence II. Walkinshaw. Mr. Bent could anticipate completion. He could not foresee the fervor with which ornithologists throughout North and Central America have rallied to ensure fulfillment of his great undertaking. Than this there can be no higher praise. in his eighty-ninth year. Wendell Taber, Chairman, Arthur Cleveland Bent Life History Committee, Nuttall Ornithological Club..



LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN WEAVER FINCHES, BLACKBIRDS, ORIOLES, AND TANAGERS. By Arthur Cleveland Bent. Order Passeriformes: Family Ploceidae, Weaver Finches. PASSER DOMESTICUS DOMESTICUS. (Linnaeus). English Sparrow. HABITS The common name English sparrow to this bird for It. is. some hundred years and. was quite natural. is. a misnomer, but. it. has stuck. likely to survive indefinitely.. to call it the English sparrow, as. birds were imported from England, but the species. is. most. of the. widely distributed. Asia, with closely related forms in North Africa. For account of its distribution and geographical variations the reader is referred to an excellent paper on the subject by Dr. John C. Phillips And, after calling it a sparrow for these many years, and (1915). our commonest and best known sparrow at that, we must recognize it as a weaver finch and separate it widely from our sparrows in the in. a. Europe and. full. A. O. U. Check-List. finch?. The. scientific. Who. wants to. call it. the European weaver. name has not been changed,. for. which we. may. be truly thankful!. Many. years ago,. when. 1860's or early 1870's,. I. was a small boy, probably. in the late. my uncle, who lived next door to us in Taunton,. was the. first. to introduce English sparrows into that. immediate. vicinity.. He. built a large flying cage in his garden that. was roofed. on four sides, and well supplied with perches and nesting boxes. Here the sparrows were so well fed and cared for that they soon began to breed. It was not long before the cage became overcrowded, and he ordered his coachman to put up. over, covered with netting. 1.

2. U.. S.. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211. numerous nesting boxes. over the place and to liberate the sparrows. boxes, and also drove away the purple martins, tree swallows, and house wrens from all the older boxes. When the neighbors' cats killed a few of the precious sparrows, which were the newest pets and were zealously guarded, my uncle became so angered that he ordered his coachman to "kill every cat in the neighborhood." uncle drove in that night to find the coachman with nine of the neighbors' cats laid out on the stable floor, a cause for some profanity. It was not long, however, before my uncle began to miss the martins, swallows, and wrens and to realize that the sparrows were not as desirable as expected; so he ordered the coachman to reduce them. This he did effectively by digging a trench and filling it with grain, so that he could kill large numbers with a single raking shot. But the martins, swallows, and wrens never returned. This incident is typical of what happened in many other places before we realized that we had made a great mistake in importing this undesirable. They soon. filled all. the. all. new. My. alien.. Walter B. Barrows (1889), in his Bulletin on this species, quotes the by Nicolas Pike of his efforts to get the English sparrow established in this country:. following account. It was not till 1850 that the first eight pairs were brought from England to the Brooklyn Institute, of which I was then a director. We built a large cage for them, and cared for them during the winter months. Early in the spring of 1851 they were liberated, but they did not thrive. In 1852 a committee of members of the Institute was chosen for the re-introduction of these birds, of which I was chairman [sic]. Over $200 was subscribed for expenses. I went to England in 1852, on my way On my arrival in Liverpool I gave the to the consul-generalship of Portugal. order for a large lot of Sparrows and song birds to be purchased at once. They were shipped on board the steam-ship Europa, if I am not mistaken, in charge of an officer of the ship. Fifty Sparrows were let loose at the Narrows, according to instructions, and the rest on arrival were placed in the tower of Greenwood Cemetery chapel. They did not do well, so were removed to the house of Mr. John Hooper, one of the committee, who offered to take care of them during the. winter.. In the spring of 1853 they were all let loose in the grounds of Greenwood Cemetery, and a man hired to watch them. They did well and multiplied, and I have original notes taken from time to time of their increase and colonization over our great country.. Barrows. lists the following other places in which the sparrows were introduced directly from Europe: Portland, Maine, in 1854 and 1858 Peacedale, R. I., in 1858; Boston, Mass., 1858-60; New York, 1860-66 Rochester, N. Y., between 1865 and 1869; New Haven, Conn., 1867 Galveston, Tex., 1867; Charlestown, Mass., 1869; Cleveland, Ohio 1869 Philadelphia, Pa., 1869 or earlier; Salt Lake City, Utah, 1873-74 ;. Akron, Ohio, 1875; Fort Howard, Wis., 1875; Sheboygan, Wis., 1875.

ENGLISH SPARROW and Iowa City, Iowa, 1881.. He. gives a long. 3 list. of places in. which. the sparrows were introduced, probably by transplanting from other places in the United States, and adds: "A study of these tables shows that even before 1875 there were many large sparrow colonies throughout the United States, east of the Mississippi, as well as several in Canada, one or more in Utah, one at Galveston, Tex., and probably another in San Francisco, Cal. There were small colonies also in eastern Iowa and in Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska." With all these importations and transplantings, it is no wonder that the English sparrow was soon able to overrun the whole country. Barrows (1889) estimated that by 1886 the sparrow was "found to. have established itself in thirty-five States and five Territories." It spread and increased very rapidly. Between 1870 and 1875 it spread over 500 square miles; from 1875 to 1880 it spread over 15,640 square miles; between 1880 and 1885 it spread over 500,760 square miles; and in the year 1888 alone it added 516,500 squares to its range. This range was naturally spotty, there being many portions of each State that had not been invaded, and the centers of abundance were near the points of introductions. For example, although it made its first appearance in California, in the San Francisco Bay region, in 1871 or 1872, it extended its range very slowly during the next 20 years into adjacent regions; it apparently did not become established in Los Angeles County until about 1906 and in San Diego County about 1913, according to Grinnell and Miller (1944), but by 1915 it "had spread to virtually all sections of the State, at least locally in towns. and about ranches, inclusive. of desert areas. and the larger islands. offshore." It evidently invaded Arizona in 1903 and 1904, and New Mexico about 1909. Finley (1907) reported it at Portland, Oreg., in 1889, but Rathbun tells me that it did not appear in Seattle until 1897 and Bellingham, Wash., in 1900. It spread through Colorado between 1895 and 1906. E. R. Kalmbach (1940) writes: " At present the range of the English sparrow in North America covers the entire continental United States except Alaska, all thickly settled parts of the contiguous Canadian Provinces, and similar areas in Mexico south at least as far as San * * * Luis Potosi and Guadalajara in Jalisco. The most northerly point of occurrence of which the writer has record is Two Islands Indian Village on the Mackenzie River, 30 miles below Fort Simpson, Mackenzie, latitude 62 N. * * * The bird is known also at Athabaska Landing in northern Alberta and is present in most of the settlements in the coastal region of British Columbia." Leonard Wing (1943), in comparing the spread of the English sparrow with that of the starling, states that "the English sparrow spread.

U.. 4. S.. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211. much. faster than the starling, and its occupation was substantially completed forty years after its introduction. The starling spread is The rapid still far from finished fifty years after its introduction." spread of the sparrow is largely due to the fact that it was much more widely introduced and artificially transplanted. Being largely a grain-eating bird, it traveled extensively from place to place along the highways, where it could pick up waste grain dropped by passing vehicles and find some semidigested grain in the droppings of horses. Undoubtedly many found their way to more distant places by securing. unintentional transportation in grain cars or cattle cars, as shown by the fact that towns and cities along the principal railway lines,. where there has been heavy traffic in grain, have been the occupied. When these places have become overcommunities first crowded, the birds have spread out into the surrounding rural or suburban regions. At the peak of its abundance, during the early part of this century, the English sparrow was undoubtedly the most abundant bird in the United States, except in heavily forested, alpine, and desert regions. Within its favorite haunts one could easily see twice as many sparrows Mrs. Nice (1931) says: "The English as all other birds combined. or House Sparrow appears to be the most abundant breeding bird in Oklahoma. On 1,166 miles of 'roadside censuses' taken in May, June, and early July, 1920-1923, in all sections of the state, we counted 2,055 of these birds; this was 26 percent of all the birds seen and twice especially. as. many Tilford. as the. most common native bird. Moore. tells. me. — the Dickcissel.". that in his counts in St. Paul, Minn., he. recorded 42 English sparrows to 20 other birds. On the other hand, Wing (1943) estimates that in the Eastern States these sparrows constitute about 3 percent of the breeding bird population and about 4.5 percent of the wintering bird population. If this is true today, there has been a marked decrease in the East during the past two decades;. and. this is quite evident to the casual observer.. decrease is most marked in the Eastern States, especially in the and towns, though the sparrows are still common in the rural districts, about the farmyards and poultry farms, where there is still. The. cities. plenty of grain being fed to livestock. The vast hordes that formerly roosted in the trees of the King's Chapel and Granary burying grounds, in the center of the city of Boston, are no more, though a few may. be found in the public parks, where the pigeons seem to find some Warren F. Eaton (1924), then of Weston, Mass., published some interesting data showing the decline in the numbers of these sparrows in eastern Massachusetts, between 1914 and 1922. The number of days on which the sparrows were seen declined from 232 in 1916 to 101 in 1922; and the total number of sparrows seen declined still. food..

ENGLISH SPARROW. 5. from 2,705, an average of 13.7 per day, between November 20, 1914, and January 1, 1916, to only 570, an average of 5.6 per day, between January 1, 1921, and June 28, 1922. He claims to have kept a careful record and "accurate account of every bird seen at any time." According to W. H. Bergtold (1921), there was a marked decrease in the number of English sparrows in Denver, Colo., during the 15 years previous to 1921. His observations were made in "a well grassed and timbered area surrounding the Court House," opposite his office; he estimated conservatively that 15 years ago "the sparrow population of this area * * * could not have been less than one thousand birds." Careful counts made by him on 7 days in October 1919, in the same area, varied from 5 to less than 20 birds seen each day. Considerable falling off in numbers has been noted in the cities and towns of eastern Canada, but in the rural districts and in some of the towns in the Prairie regions the decline in numbers is less marked and the population has become. more. static.. Natural causes do not seem to have been sufficient to account for the decrease in numbers; English sparrows have no more serious natural enemies than other birds; there is no evidence of any widespread epidemics or diseases the elements have caused some wholesale destruction in a few places, but other birds have recovered from the results of such disasters. There remains a generally accepted cause, the diminution in the food supply, especially in the cities. It is significant that the decrease in the sparrow population in urban and suburban areas coincides very closely with the increased use of motor vehicles and the decrease in the number of horses that formerly spread a bountiful food supply along our streets and highways. Even in the farming districts, the tractor and other mechanical agricultural machines have largely replaced the horse; and in the cities and towns a horse-drawn vehicle is a rare sight today. Bergtold (1921) gives us ;. some show. figures to illustrate the passing of the horse; official statistics. that, in Denver, the number of horses declined from 5,904 in 1907 to 3,832 in 1917, a reduction of about 33 percent. He says further: "There can be, however, little^question concerning the reality of the 'vanishing horse', for it has been shown (Saturday Evening Post,. Sept. 13, 1919) that the. number. of horses in. New York. City recently. declined from 108,036 to 75,740, and it is probable that what amounts to decrease (by displacement or substitution) has occurred also in. suburban areas, since. ment. of. 33%. statistics. of the horses in. seem to show a decrease or displaceone of the Dakotas.. Finally in this. can be said that early in November 1919 there were enough tractors in use in Colorado to displace 16,000 horses." The above is largely ancient history, but the figures show the trend, which has been going on ever since at an increasing rate until the connection. it.

6. U. S.. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211. horse, as a tractive force, has almost reached the vanishing point.. The motor vehicle has driven the English sparrow out of our cities not only by removing its principal, almost its only, food supply, but by making its street life so hazardous among the swiftly moving vehicles as to cause it to seek safer surroundings, where food is more easily obtained. Studies of stomach contents show that no very large proportion of the food of this bird consists of semidigested oats, from which it may be contended that the passing of the horse was not a primary factor in the decline of the sparrow; nevertheless the passing of the horse certainly resulted in driving the great concentrations of. sparrows out of our large. cities.. —. Courtship. The courtship of the English sparrow is more specIt used to be a common extacular and strenuous than elegant. perience to see a group of these dirty, soot-begrimed street gamins struggling and fighting almost under our feet in our streets and gutters, oblivious to their surroundings.. Charles. W. Townsend. (1909) thus. describes the actions of the ardent male:. With flattened back, head held up and tail down [up?], wings out from the body, the tips of the primaries touching or nearly touching the ground, he hops back and forth before the coy female as if on springs. Not one but several dance thus before a lady who barely deigns to look at them, and then only to peck in feigned disgust at the love-lorn suitors. These pecks are often far from love pats. At times she stands in the middle of a ring of males at whom she pecks viciously turn as they fly by, all chirping excitedly at the top of their lungs. The casual observer might think the lady was being tormented by a crowd of ungallant males, but the opposite is in reality the case for the lady is well pleased and is showing her pretended feminine contempt for the male sex, who on their part are trying At other times she plants her bill firmly their best to attract and charm her. on the head of the suitor, and pecks at him violently from time to time without letting go her hold. I have seen several such one-sided fights, for the oppressed rarely fights back, where the male seemed to be on the verge of exhaustion, lying panting on the ground, but on being disturbed both birds flew off apparently none the worse. * * * About a year ago I w atched two males in fierce encounter on a small grass plot in front of my house. One had the other by the bill and held him back downwards on the grass. They were both using their claws vigorously and bracing with their wings. Occasionally they would roll over, or go head over in. r. Breaking apart they would fly up at each other like enraged barn-yard Although I stood within two feet of them, so intent were they that they did not notice me until I made an incautious movement and they fled to fight heels.. cocks.. elsewhere.. A disgraceful fight between two female English Sparrows occurred in front of my house one April day. Catching each other by the bills they pulled and tugged and rolled over on the grass. When they broke away the fight was renewed a few inches above the ground in fighting cock style. Three males appeared, and One, evidently scandalized, endeavored to separate the watched the fight. Amazons by pecking at them, but they paid no attention to him and only after some time flew away, one chasing the other..

ENGLISH SPARROW Claude T. Barnes has sent. me. 7. the following interesting account of "The incredible English sparrow. the mating of this strenuous species: is. the best illustration of furor amatorius.. The male. suffers. from. female from nymphomania. In the several years that we have observed them breeding, in two instances copulation took place fourteen times in succession, with a stopwatch record of five seconds for the act and five seconds for the interval. In each instance it was the soft tee tee tee tee tee tee of the female, sitting with outstretched wings, that attracted our attention, and our count one was perhaps in reality two or three. Since other males within 20 feet took no interest, we believe that despite its reputation for promiscuity the domestic sparrow, after earlier imbroglios are settled, actually does mate with at least a short period of fidelity. Once mated, however, the female seems willing to continue the venery beyond the capacity of the male, for in every instance we have observed she continued her fluttering chant until he ceased to respond." Nesting. The resourceful and adaptable English sparrow will build its bulky, unkempt, and loosely constructed nest in almost any conceivable spot that will give it support, some security, and a reasonable degree of concealment, though some of the locations seem to lack even these requirements. Their favored site appears to be a nesting box, from which other box-nesting birds are often excluded or sometimes even evicted. But sometimes, even where boxes are available, natural sites have satyriasis, the. —. been occupied. Richard L. Weaver (1939) found in his studies at Ithaca, N. Y., that "boxes were not preferred to natural sites if the natural ones were well hidden. This was shown at the sanctuary pavilion where boxes were placed besides the natural sites. Only five of the twenty-five broods raised there were in boxes, the others being in rafters under the overhanging porch." In eastern Massachusetts, favorite nesting sites are found in the dense growths of Boston ivy which climb luxuriantly over many of our large buildings and offer good support, security, and some concealment. Similar ivy and other vines are favored in different parts of the country. These vines sometimes harbor so many nests that they. become a nuisance; the slovenly. nests disfigure the walls, while the. vines and the ground beneath are defiled. by the droppings. of the birds,. and the noisy chattering of so many birds disturbs the occupants of the buildings. Attempts to drive away the birds by pulling down the nests have not always been successful; some of the nests are 40 or 50 feet from the ground and difficult to reach; and the birds are so per-. But repeated efforts will eventually succeed and the sparrows will learn to build their nests in less conspicuous places, where they are less likely to be disturbed. sistent that they return to build again.. 380928—58. 2.

8. U.. S.. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211. Charles R. Stockard (1905) writes: "There was a church in Columbus [Miss.] the walls of which were completely covered with ivy and the ivy was almost as completely filled with sparrows' nests. Permission was obtained to raid this colony and in one day four hundred and fifty-nine eggs were taken and about seven hundred young sparrows were killed. * * * Several compound nests were found, one a large ball of hay with three small openings each leading to a separate. chamber containing a set of eggs." In the days when we had arc lights over the streets, sparrows built their nests on the supports under the hoods, where they had shelter and warmth at night. Occasionally I have seen sparrows occupying one compartment in a large martin box while the purple martins lived in the others. The bulky nests of large hawks often have sparrow nests in their lower portions many times I have seen one in an osprey's huge nest, and have even found one occupying a crevice in the nest of a Swainson's hawk. The sparrows do not seem to bother the martins, nor are they afraid of the large hawks. Sometimes sparrows drive out cliff swallows and occupy their bottleneck nests; occasionally they use deserted nests of cliff or even barn swallows. A. Dawes Du Bois tells me that he found "a great many English sparrows" occupying the lower holes in a large colony of bank swallows. He also saw one building a nest in a woodpecker's hole. Natural cavities in trees, especially apple trees, cavities such as are used by starlings, bluebirds and tree swallows, offer convenient nesting When the sparrows were more abundant in our cities they sites. nested in large numbers, sometimes as many as half a dozen nests in a tree, in the shade trees along the streets and in the parks; their large Most nests were very conspicuous before the trees were in full leaf. of these nests were in deciduous trees at heights ranging from 10 up to 50 feet. Some nests were in spruces; and, in California, nests are often seen in the tallest eucalyptus trees, and even palms. In or about buildings the sparrows will build their nests wherever feather-lined. ;. they can find lodgement for them, on a rafter or a brace, on the corbel on a rain spout under the eaves, behind blinds or shutters, or in the pocket of a drawn-up awning; in the last case, if the awning is lowered, the nest is destroyed, but the sparrows will build there Hervey Brackagain, if the awning remains drawn-up long enough. bill has sent me the following description of an awning nest: "A nest built in a deep fold of a drawn-up awning in Baltimore city was a great mass of loosely-placed and loosely-woven material, in the middle of which was a comparatively small and rather neat pocket for the eggs. In its extreme dimensions, the whole unkempt thing was 20 inches tall and 12 by 5 inches in breadth. The actual nest pocket had an extreme depth of 7 inches, but from the point where the walls of a pillar,.

— ENGLISH SPARROW became solid the depth was only 5 The nest was made chiefly of very heads. still. a small. on, but. wad. it. also contained. ;. 9. the inner diameter long, coarse grass. some. leaves, a. was. 3 inches.. stems with the. few small feathers, and a. of cotton, several pieces of string, a piece of cloth,. waxed chewing gum paper." Nests in other cavities vary greatly in or small, being filled with the material. piece of. trees are usually large,. more or less. the space, whether large Nests in open situations in globular in shape, with the entrance size,. on the side. William L. Finley (1907) published a photograph of a nest in an unusual location, of which he says: "Down near the end of sparrow row some hornets built a nest up under the projecting eaves of the front porch of a cottage, just beside the bracket. I can understand how a pair of sparrows will fight for a bird-box and drive other birds away, but I never dreamed they would be envious of the hornets. But a sparrow must have a place to nest. Whether the hornets left voluntarily or with the aid of the sparrows I do not know, but the next time I passed I found the birds in possession actually making a home in the hornet's nest. They had gone in through the bracket and pulled out a large part of the comb, and were replacing it with grass and. —. feathers.". Weaver. (1939) observed that. Nest sites were chosen both before and after mating had occurred. If before, the male selected the site and performed his courtship from there, but if afterward, the female helped with or probably did most of the choosing. * * * "The variations in nest structure resulted mostly from the presence or absence of certain nesting materials. The commonest form of nest was one with an outer structure of coarse hay or dried weeds, and a lining of finer materials such as feathers, cord, hair, and frayed rope. Hay and dried weeds were preferable to straw. Feathers were preferred to other lining materials and the birds often traveled several hundred yards to the chicken yards to obtain them. * * * "Coarse materials were brought to the site selected and layed down rather loosely for a foundation. When a strong support was necessary many stiff stems of hay or weeds were forced into small crevices around the sides and bottom of the nest. As the bulk increased upwards, the female formed the cup by turning round and round in the center. This movement caused the long strands to bend into a *U' shape. The ends were, therefore, forced up along the sides and helped to support the roof, which was added next. After the outer shell was constructed, the lining was added.". The English sparrow. an early and a. late nester, as well as a broods a year. Clarence Cottam (1929) holds the record for an early nesting date in Utah. On January 1, 1929, a boy showed him a nest containing five naked young, recently hatched. The temperature was near the zero point at the time and went down to 14 below during the month. "During the first 18 days one or both parents were almost constantly on the nest. During the is. prolific breeder, raising several.

10. U.. S.. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211. night both parents remained within the bird house.. Contrary to the. usual custom of these birds, the young were practically grown. they. left. the nest and began to. late in February, disclosed a. fly.. One. when. of these juveniles, collected. body that was. fat. and. in perfect physical. condition.". This was, of course, a very unusual date for nesting, as the eggs were December. J. J. Murray writes to me that he has seen these birds carrying nesting material as early as February 1, and that a neighbor took a practically complete nest out of a wren box on February 21. He has also seen them carry material into a hole as late as November 2. These dates indicate possible nesting activities in every month of the year. Weaver (1943), on the other hand says: "The season of nesting is from April to September for most of the United States but may start as early as March 2 in the South and may be delayed until near the first of May in parts of Canada and in Europe." Eggs. The number of eggs laid by the English sparrow varies from three to seven; five seems to be the commonest number, though sets of six are not very rare; as many as nine have been recorded, and four seems to be the normal minimum. The eggs are mainly ovate in shape, with a tendency toward elongate ovate, and they have very little gloss. Niethammer (1937) gives a very good description of them, very variable with of which the following is a translation: "Eggs basic color almost pure white, greenish or bluish, less often greengray or brownish. Marks limited to a few gray or brown dots, usually consisting of closely packed, clouded or sharply limited spots, which vary from deep black-brown through all tone ranges to bright ashy gray and can crowd in toward the blunt end, however, without forming Usually the last egg is abnormally a genuine wreath structure. colored; basic color brighter, spotting more pronounced and not so frequent. Likewise the next to the last egg has a darker basic color and very dense marking." Weaver (1943) gives the measurements of 54 eggs, of which the average is 22.8 by 15.4 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes laid in. —. —. measure 25.0 by. 16.0, 22.0. by. 16.8, 20.2. by. 15.0,. and 20.4 by 14.5. millimeters.. —. Young. Weaver (1943) found that incubation was performed wholly by the female, 12 days being the commonest incubation period: "Three of the twenty-two sets required thirteen days, nine required twelve days, one required eleven days, and three sets required ten days." He figured that incubation began with the laying of the third egg. Of the hatching operation he writes: A. sound usually announces the readiness of the young to start hatching. contact of the egg tooth with the shell and possibly also by a clicking together of the mandibles. The egg tooth presses against the shell and makes an It is. clicking. made by.

ENGLISH SPARROW. 11. upraised crease around the larger end of the egg about one-fourth of the way from The young bird may break the shell with the egg tooth before the crease In either case, a slit now appears, starting at a point where the egg is noticeable. tooth first pushed through the shell. The slit is made in a circular direction around the egg and meets the point where it started. The young is able to turn the end.. The head is itself or its head in the egg making a complete circular slit possible. located in the larger end of the egg and as the slit nears completion the piece of shell around the head is broken off and the head is freed. The larger piece of shell The feet are crowded into the is now kicked free and the young forces itself out. depressions on either side of the neck while in the shell, and after hatching they have a tendency to remain doubled up for several hours. Often the shell does not come free from the young immediately and the female will help to remove it, and when doing so may often carry the young and the shell out of the nest causing early death to the unfortunate young.. In another paper (1942) he describes the development of the young in great detail, with illustrations, but I quote only from his summary: * * * English Sparrows are hatched without natal down. tooth disappears and the edges of the bill change from white to lemonyellow by the fourth day after hatching. * * * The greatest development in the plumage of young sparrows is delayed until The greatest change in appearance of the latter part of the period in the nest. young English Sparrows occurs between the age of six and seven days, when. The egg. most. By and. of the feathers. emerge and many. of. them. lose their sheaths.. the tenth day after hatching the color pattern. in. some males a black. is. evident, showing a wing bar,. bib.. have disappeared from the contour feathers and but one-fourth of the flight feathers are unsheathed by the fifteenth day. These sheaths may remain one to two weeks after the young depart from the nest. The greatest amount of sheath is present in the flight feathers on the eleventh day. The amount of sheathing present gives an accurate criterion of the age Practically all of the sheaths. all. of. young birds in the nest. Most of the young left the nest. may remain. at about the fifteenth day, but English Sparrows. days if entirely undisturbed. Males and females share about equally in the feeding of the young at the nest, but the females do the greater portion of the nest sanitation. Both birds may brood the young, although the female does the greater part of it, and always stays in the nest during the night. The young are fed by regurgitation during the. first. in the nest for seventeen. part of the period after hatching.. There was 70.5 per cent success of survival in thirty-eight nests which produced 127 young from 180 eggs laid. This corresponds closely to that reported for other hole-nesting species. The older young are able to command the most advantageous positions in the nest and thus receive relatively more food and often are able to leave the nest several days before the other young. The young can fly rather well upon leaving the nest, considerably better than do the young of most species that nest in the open. The young are fed by the adults for a period of two weeks, and probably more, after leaving the nest. The young have a strong bond for one another. The young, out of the nest, may be fed entirely by one adult or by both. A complete post-ju venal molt begins about five weeks after the young leave the nest. 1937.. It. began in early August and ended. in. mid-September at Ithaca. in.

12. U.. S.. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211. Probably the English sparrow raises regularly two broods of young and often three, but it is doubtful if more than three are often raised. Reports of four or five broods have not been definitely proven, so far as we know. Weaver (1943) suggests: "Since one individual nest may be used by three or more different females in one season, the actual number of broods raised by one female in a season is questionable. Two banded females are known to have raised but two complete broods in one season while one nest site is known to have been used four times with three successful broods. Therefore, it is suspected that the large number of broods claimed by some writers may refer to clutches per nest site rather than broods in a season. per female.". When. a nest. no time in to me: "I on May 7, Barrows. is. robbed or destroyed, however, the sparrows lose. making another attempt. to raise a brood.. Murray. writes. on April 11, and 26 days later, the pair had two young and two eggs ready to hatch." (1889) quotes Otto Widmann as saying: "A Sparrow never deserts its brood. If one of the parents is killed, the other will do all the work alone. If a young one happens to fall down from the lofty nest, it is not lost; the parents feed it, shelter, and defend it. If a young Sparrow is taken from the nest and placed in a cage, the mother feeds it for days and weeks, even if she has to enter a room to get to it.". tore a nest out of a hole. —. Plumages. Both sexes are alike in the juvenal plumage, which Dwight (1900) describes as follows: "Above, hair-brown somewhat buffy, wings and tail slightly darker, and streaked broadly with clovebrown on the back; secondaries, tertiaries and wing coverts edged wood-brown. Below, mouse-gray, darkest across and on the sides, the chin and mid-abdomen nearly white.. with. jugulum dusky. A. postocular stripe.". A. complete postjuvenal molt takes place about 5 weeks after the. young bird leaves the nest, at which the male acquires the black throat and becomes practically indistinguishable from the adult. Dwight (1900) describes this handsome plumage as follows: Pileum, rump and upper tail coverts smoke-gray, the feathers brownish edged and dusky basally. The back streaked with black each feather partly Mar'sbrown and edged with buff. Below, dull white tinged with French-gray on throat and sides, the feather tips with buffy wash, the shafts faintly grayish; the chin and throat, loral and postocular stripe, black veiled with grayish or buffy edgings; sides of chin and throat and mid-abdomen nearly white; auriculars olive-gray; posterior part of superciliary line, postauricular and nuchal regions chestnut veiled with buff edgings. Wings and tail dull black edged with pale cinnamon, rich chestnut on the greater and lesser coverts, the median coverts white, buff edged forming a wing band..

ENGLISH SPARROW. 13. The first and subsequent nuptial plumages are acquired by wear, which brings out the contrasts in and the brilliancy of|the colors. A complete postnuptial molt for both yound and old birds begins late in August. Adult males in winter plumage are not very different from the first winter males; the black of the throat is*„ usually,. more extensive, the buff less evident, the crown grayer and the median coverts whiter. After the postjuvenal molt, females resemble the males above, but lack the black throat and the chestnut patches; the molts are the same. Stimulated by Wetmore's (1936) feather counting, Arthur E. Staebler (1941) took the trouble to count the contour feathers on eight English sparrows of different ages and sexes and at different seasons, from which he made the expected discovery that the sparrows wear more feathers in winter than in summer; only such feathers as formed parts of the outer covering were counted. He found that an adult male taken in January had 3,615 feathers, while an adult male taken in July had 3,138 feathers. Food. The latest and most comperehensive study of the food of the English sparrow was made by E. R. Kalmbach (1940), based on the examination of 8,004 stomachs of adults and nestlings, 337 of which "were found to be too nearly empty or otherwise unfit for use in the computation of bulk percentages." The stomachs of the 4,848 adults were found to contain 3.39 percent of animal matter and 96.61 percent vegetable. The proportions were largely reversed for the nestlings, 68.13 percent animal and 31.87 percent vegetable matter. Grouped to show whether the consumption of the various items is beneficial, neutral or harmful to the interests of man, his tables give the following figures: Adults' animal food is 2.67 percent. —. beneficial, 0.64 percent neutral,. vegetable food. is. 55.50 percent harmful. ficial,. and 0.08 percent harmful.. Nestlings' animal food. is. 59.21 percent bene-. 4.48 percent neutral, and 4.44 percent harmful.. vegetable food. is. Adults'. 16.97 percent beneficial, 24.14 percent neutral, and Nestlings'. 0.17 percent beneficial, 7.85 percent neutral,. 23.85 percent harmful.. By. adding the totals. and. be seen that the feeding habits of the adults are 55.58 percent harmful while those it will. of the nestlings are 59.38 beneficial; but, unfortunately, the feeding. time of nestlings is very limited. He gives the sparrow credit for destroying many weevils, particularly the very destructive alfalfa weevil, scarabaeid beetles, click beetles, leaf beetles, grasshoppers, locusts, crickets, caterpillars,. moths,. and some flies; but blames it for eating the useful predaceous ground beetles and spiders. He gives it some credit for destroying some weed seeds, but condemns it for the large amounts of feed grains such as.

14. U. S.. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211. and corn that it eats. These grains alone made up over 55 percent of the food of the adults. Forbush (1929) gives the following general account of the food of this bird: "The food of the House Sparrow includes many substances, chiefly vegetal, and ranging from fruit and grain to garbage, and undigested grain and seeds in horse droppings. It eats greedily all the small grains and bird seeds, crumbs of bread, cake and other foods of mankind, small fruits and succulent garden plants in their tender stages. It destroys young peas, turnips, cabbage and nearly all. oats, wheat,. young tables.. vegetables,. and. it. often eats the undeveloped seeds of vege-. When numerous. it. attacks apples, peaches, plums, pears,. other common small fruits." has repeatedly been seen eating apple blossoms and those of peas and beans. Tilford Moore (MS.) saw one trying to get at the seeds in a large sunflower head, "but, as the bloom was face downward and as he was unable to hang upside down, he was unsuccessful. The above method, sometimes successful, is used on seeds at the edge of the bloom only. For seeds toward the center, they hover beneath the bloom and reach up to draw one out. Then they fly to the ground where they remove the husks to get at the kernels. Thus the birds of this species have harvested almost all the seeds." Irving W. Burr writes to me: "One of the bird's commonest food in late summer and fall is the seed from crab grass (Digitaria sp.). That is the explanation of the foraging flocks on the lawns. Binoculars reveal that the bobbing heads are busy shoveling in the seeds, just as a boy will strip a weed stalk. The number of crab grass seeds which a flock of forty sparrows will eat in a day must be enormous. Surely everyone would regard this as a commendable trait in the bird." I have seen the birds doing this on my lawns, but cannot see that the crab grass is materially reduced. Judd (1896) also refers to the sparrows as eating the seed of crab grass, chickweed, and dandelion, but none of these lawn pests have been exterminated anywhere, though they may be somewhat controlled. He says that "more than half of the dandelions that bloomed in April on the lawns of the U. S. Department of Agriculture were damaged by Sparrows." Kalmbach (1940) mentions ragweed seeds as dominant in the food of this sparrow, but says that crab grass seeds are "taken in greater bulk and numbers but found in fewer stomachs. * * * As many as 1,274 were taken from the crop of a single English sparrow from Alabama; more than 900 each from 2 others; and 150 or more each from fully 40 others." He then gives a long list of other weed seeds and grass seeds eaten. Judd (1901) said of the vegetable food, as then known and not very different from our present knowledge: "Of the 98 percent constituting strawberries, currants It. and. all.

ENGLISH SPARROW. 15. the vegetable food, 7 percent consisted of grass seed, largely of plants of the genera Zizania. (wild. rice),. Panicum, and Chaetocloa, and. notably crab-grass and pigeon-grass, and 17 percent of various weeds not belonging to the grass family. The grass and weed seeds taken are not noticeably different from those usually eaten by native sparrows. But what especially differentiates the vegetable food from that of all other sparrows is the large proportion of grain consumed, which formed 74 per cent of the entire food of the year and 90 percent of that of the period from June to August." In late summer, when the numbers of these sparrows are augmented by the addition of two or three broods of young, the sparrows swoop down on the grain fields to raid the standing crops; they alight on the stalks to pluck the grain from the fruiting heads or to shake the kernels down to the ground to be picked up at their leisure, all of. which. results in. heavy damage. to the crops.. Among is. the few redeeming features in the food of English sparrows the small percentage of harmful and annoying insects that it eats.. Hervey Brackbill writes. in his notes: "During one October when aphids heavily infested the silver and Norway maples that line several blocks in northwest Baltimore, English sparrows were among the most persistent of 13 species of birds that fed upon them. The sparrows appeared daily, foraged throughout the 35- to 50-foot trees, and used many different methods. In a heavy vertical fork, a type of place in which the aphids sometimes collected in particular numbers, one bird once clung for some seconds head downward, much like a nuthatch, while snatching up the insects on all sides. Another clung to a silver maple trunk practically like a woodpecker and foraged over and beneath the flaky bark. The English sparrows also often picked the aphids off the under sides of leaves. The English sparrow is one of the heaviest bird feeders on the Japanese beetle, which has become such a pest in parts of the East. It is the most versatile bird in its hunting of them, too. It flies to commanding perches on rose bushes and trellises, scans the leaves and flowers thoroughly, and upon locating a beetle makes its capture with a swoop. It searches the bushes from below, hopping along the flower beds, peering intently and then darting upward to seize its prey. I have seen it make catches as high as 18 feet up in trees. It also pursues low-flying beetles through the air and captures them on the wing." I can remember that many years ago, before the sparrows became abundant, we were greatly annoyed by inch worms spinning down upon us from the trees which they had partially defoliated. Then the sparrows came and began foraging in our shade trees for these little caterpillars or canker worms, as well as for the elm-leaf beetles..

16. U. S.. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETEST 211. We frequently saw several sparrows at work in a single tree. At the height of the sparrow abundance these little worms were nearly exterminated about my home, or at least very materially reduced in numbers. inch. But, since the decline in the sparrow population, the. worms have. increased decidedly.. other insectivorous birds. may have. The. scarcity of vireos. partially. and. accounted for the. increase in the inch worms. I. remember. once,. when. there was a plague of. army worms. here,. numbers and fed greedily upon them. Mormon crickets have been at least checked. the sparrows gathered in large. In the West, outbreaks of by English sparrows. According to William J.. Howard. were the an emergence of 17-year locusts in Indiana. "Although there were multitudes of dead and dying insects upon trees and the ground, the sparrows were very active in pursuing flying locusts. As many as three sparrows were seen to chase a single insect, and the squabble and fight characteristic of this bird usually ensued when one of the birds caught an insect." Sparrows are often seen picking insects off the radiators of automobiles where they have been caught and killed. But they can also catch many flying insects in the air wasps, bees, flying ants, and other Hymenoptera. They are, in fact, very resourceful in their They eat the snow-white linden moths when varied feeding habits. they appear in July, and feed on the tent caterpillars and brown-. most numerous and most active. (1937), English sparrows. of all the birds in attacking. —. moths. Behavior. The English sparrow is a noisy, boisterous, and aggresGenerally cordially sive bully in its relations with other species. is almost wholly black. It and men, its record both birds hated by drives bluebirds, swallows, and wrens from their nesting boxes by Some of these rightful force, or by preempting them in advance. tenants of the boxes can resist eviction by an aggressive pair of sparrows, but they cannot withstand mob violence when the sparrows attack in superior numbers, as they sometimes do; then the gentler birds give up the fight and retire to find more peaceful quarters tailed. —. elsewhere. But the box-dwellers are not the only sufferers; the sparrows seize and occupy the bottleneck nests of cliff swallows, the open It was nests of barn swallows, and even the burrows of bank swallows. thought that the English sparrow might meet its match in the house Bergtold (1913) writes: finch in Colorado, but such was not to be. loss of nests, eggs and young of the House Finch through direct destrucby the English Sparrow is very large. It was 16% in some of the nests studied by the writer, and, moreover, this 16% loss of eggs does not include the very large potential loss of House Finch eggs and young brought about by. The. tion.

ENGLISH SPARROW. 17. destruction of nests by English Sparrows before the House Finch eggs are laid * * * The writer has personally witnessed English Sparrows going into the House Finches' nests, and has seen them throw out the young, these in them.. nestings having the heads pecked open by the Sparrows before they were out.. The House Finch will at the same time a very. often put. up a mild. thrown. fight against the invaders, giv-. characteristic squeak but the Finch. is almost invarIn many years' observations on this phase of the Finch question, the writer has but once seen a Finch whip a Sparrow.. ing. iably beaten in these battles.. The sparrows destroy the eggs and young of the birds that nest in boxes and throw out the nesting material, also those of the other birds mentioned above. Nests of birds as large as robins have been robbed of their eggs and young. On the other hand, an English sparrow has been seen by reliable observers to defend the nest and feed the young of a pair of red-eyed vireos, together with the parent birds (see The Cardinal, vol. 2, pp. 191-192). We often see one or more sparrows trailing a robin or a starling on the lawn, seeming to know that the larger birds are more successful than they would be in digging out worms or grubs, and they look for a chance to steal their They are such aggressive and persistent bluffers that they food. sometimes succeed, by force of numbers or by strategy. They show their intelligence and ingenuity in other ways. John Burroughs (1879), with the remark that "it is too good not to be true". tells. the following story:. A. male bird brought to his box a large, fine goose feather, which is a great find for a sparrow and much coveted. After he had deposited his prize and chattered his gratulations over it, he went away in quest of his mate. His next-door neighbor, a female bird, seeing her chance, quickly slipped in and seized the feather; and here the wit of the bird came out, for instead of carrying it into her own box she flew with it to a near tree and hid it in a fork of the branches, then went home, and when her neighbor returned with his mate, was innocently employed about her own affairs. The proud male, finding his feather gone, came out of his box in a high state of excitement, and, with wrath in his manner and accusation on his tongue, rushed into the cote of the female. Not finding his goods and chattels there as he expected, he stormed around a while, abusing everybody in general and his neighbor in particular, and then went away as if to repair the loss. As soon as he was out of sight, the shrewd thief went and brought the feather home and lined her own domicile with it.. Mr. Brackbill says in his notes: "An instance of real ingenuity was witnessed at a fountain and pool in Mount Vernon Place, in downtown Baltimore. On a flat rim of this pool, covered by water to an ideal depth, sparrows were accustomed to gather and bathe. One day the pool was drained, leaving the birds only some steep-sided bowls on a surrounding wall as watering places. From the rims of these they could lean forward and bathe their heads and shoulders, but the water's depth quite precluded complete baths in normal fashion. The birds got their baths nonetheless. To wash their hind.

18. U. S.. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211. parts they turned around and tipped slightly backward.. wash. And. to. and underparts generally they flew very low across the water, dipping down into it one to several times on the way. Some contrived even better baths by swimming flutteringly the whole way across the bowls. "An instance of drinking was noted at a building where an exhaust pipe projected through the wall a yard or so above the ground. The pipe was about an inch in diameter and it projected from the wall just about an inch. Water was dripping from it, and although the drip was not fast enough to form even a small puddle on the ground, the sparrows of the neighborhood had solved the problem of getting a drink. Every now and then one would come flying, alight on the bit of exposed pipe, bend downward sometimes in a very awkward position and drink the drops as they collected on the lip of the pipe. Four birds drank in this way during ten minutes that I watched." their breasts. —. —. English sparrows will roost for the night wherever they can find a shelter in, under, or about buildings or other human structures, under electric light hoods, or in dense evergreen trees. But they often huddle together for mutual protection where there is no shelter whatever, just as they did in the big city roosts, when the sparrows lived in the cities.. little. On. Chestnut Street, the principal business street in Philadelphia,. writes J. P. Norris (1891), stood an old-fashioned dwelling, the only one on the street: "On the lower side of the house, just inside the. brick wall that encloses the garden, stands a tree about forty feet high,. many. branches; and every afternoon the English Sparrows roost Every branch is covered with them, and they are huddled together as close as they can sit. To count them all would be impossible, but I have seen over fifty on one branch. A long wall of an adjoining store is covered with ivy and Virginia. with. here literally by thousands.. Creeper, and this forms a convenient roosting place for those birds. that cannot find places on the tree.". The spectacular sparrow roost that formerly existed in the King's Chapel burying ground in the center of Boston is well described by Dr. Townsend (1909). The birdsfrequent the place throughout the year but are decidedly less numerous in the Thus on Novemspring months and most numerous during the fall and winter. ber 25, 1905, between 4 and 5 p. m., I estimated that about 3,000 were in this place in five trees. The other two trees were empty. On February 20, 1906, on a mild pleasant day, when the sun set 5:24 p.m., the roost was studied from the near-by City Hall. The roosting trees seen from above looked as if their limbs had been whitewashed and the ground and grass beneath were similarly affected. The first arrivals appear at 3:45 p.m., about a dozen in all. At 4 the birds are coming singly and in small groups alighting in the trees but frequently changing from place to place, chirping continuously and fighting for positions. At 4:05 a.

—— ENGLISH SPARROW. 19. flock of 12 fly swiftly and directly to one tree; 4:10 p.m.: there are now about 150 sparrows present, but new ones are coming sailing in with wings wide spread from over or between the surrounding high buildings. They fly with astonishing swiftness and directness, projected as it were from space directly into the roost At 4:15 p.m. It is now raining is it the city rush and scramble for position? I have seen only one alight on a building before entering the roost; they birds. The trees are a scene of great activity are in too much of a hurry to get there. and the noise rises above the roar of the city's streets. The birds are crowding together in the trees, constantly fighting and flying about as they are forced from their perches. At 4:30 the birds are still coming, but by 4:45 there is a noticeable diminution in the numbers of the coming birds and by 5 o'clock the movement has ceased with the exception of a few stragglers. Many are now spreading their wings and tails and composing themselves for sleep. At 5:30 the roost is still noisy but many are fast asleep, and before long all is quiet.. He. describes the morning awakening as follows:. On November. 26, 1905, I watched the King's Chapel roost wake up and depart day's business. All were asleep and quiet until 6 o'clock when the first chirp was heard, while the stars were still shining, and the first movement took. about. its. place at 6:05, when a sparrow flew from one branch to another. The sleeping ones had their heads depressed in front, or the head turned around with the bill concealed in the feathers of the back. A sudden general chirping begins at 6:07 and a few buzz about from branch to branch. The chirping swells into a continuous volume of sound, not the chorus of the spring, but a confused conversational chirping noise as if all were talking at once. Birds buzz about with rapid wing vibrations, suggestive of hummingbirds. The first one flies off in an unsteady way as if still half asleep at 6:12. The sound grows louder, although the majority still appear to be asleep. Some are stretching their wings and preening their feathers. The stars are nearly gone. At 6:20 no. 2 flies off uncertainly. 6:25. Now there Many are flying about and a dozen or more have is greater noise and activity. left. All awake seem to enjoy spreading their tails. A considerable proportion sleep on through the hubbub. There is very little fighting compared with the evening. 6:26. Now the birds are leaving constantly. 6:27. They are leaving in bands of 15 or 20 at a time. 6:30 a. m. The stream of outgoers, mostly down Tremont Street to the north, is now continuous and too great to count. The remaining birds are noisy in the extreme, flying about vigorously and filling up the empty trees. 6:35 a.m. It is now broad daylight and the birds are flying off like bees, but more or less in waves. A few still sleep on undisturbed. The sun rose about 6:50 and by that time doubtless all or nearly all of the birds had gone.. Voice.. —Little can be said. except that indicates. it. in favor of the English sparrow's voice,. expresses cheerfulness under adverse weather conditions,. abundant energy and aggressiveness, but the incessant chirp-. ing and chattering that one hears on spring mornings often seems. monotonous and soon becomes tiresome. Dr. Townsend (1909) describes it very The "chorus" begins from twenty. —. well as follows:. to thirty minutes before sunrise in April,. May and June on bright days fifteen or twenty minutes later on cloudy days and lasts in full volume nearly an hour. A few scattering chirps are first heard from the early ones, but the multitudes on vines and trees and house-tops soon take up the theme, and the din is almost deafening. The chief note is chis-ick or tsee-up monotonously repeated, with various modifications, for the most part high pitched.

20. U.. S.. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211. and ear racking, but occasionally deeper and almost melodious.. Certain individuals repeat notes or even series of notes that are not unattractive, and may even be called musical. These are not common but may be heard every spring,. and, on mild days, even as early as January. At the height of the morning chorus, it must be called, there is at times a distinct rhythm, caused by some of This chirping rhythm I have frequently tried to count the birds keeping time. but generally without success, for each bird appears to chirp manfully on his own hook without regard to time. I have, however, sometimes found its rate to be 60 or 70 times a minute, slowing down to 40 on hot days. In this respect the Sparrow differs directly from the cold blooded insect that sings faster the hotter for such. the weather.. Ernest Thompson Seton (1901) tells a remarkable story of an Engsparrow that was hatched in a cage by canaries and learned to. lish. sing.. and was frequently heard to sing "a loud sweet song, Canary." I wrote to Thompson-Seton, to learn if the story was just pure fiction. He replied that he met the bird many years ago in Toronto, and that "in the main the story is founded on fact," but he "expounded and developed the details." The story, "A Street Troubadour," is attractively written and well worth reading It escaped. much. like that of a. as a character study.. We. have other evidences of singing. ability.. Dr. Dayton Stoner. (1942) writes of a versatile captive English sparrow: "This unique. sparrow possessed various types of vocal ability which he utilized to express insistence concerning certain kinds of food, absence of the cage cover at night, general well-being, disgust and the. like.. More-. over, he acquired a remarkable proficiency in singing ability through. medium. —. two canaries which were his companions in separate six years. His imitations of the 'rolling' notes of the one and the 'chopping' notes of the other were sometimes so well done as to deceive even his mistress." Furthermore, Tilford Moore has sent me the following note: "Sept. 15, 1941. I heard a male in the honeysuckle beside my bed actually sing today. He was uttering the usual harsh chatterings of his kind, but about once a minute he'd substitute a short song for a squawk. The song was a thin and squeaky but rather pretty one, with tut-tut at beginning and end. Not a warble, it varied over several notes, was rather like an incomplete song which I have heard from a white-throat." Field marks. This impudent and aggressive little pest is easily recognized by its behavior, its familiarity, and its noisy chirps and The male is a handsome fellow in fresh, clean plumage, chatter. with his black bib, gray crown, and conspicuous markings of chestnut, black, and white about the head. The female is more soberly colored, lacking the conspicuous markings about the head, but similar to the male above and below. the. cages. of. —for about. —.

ENGLISH SPARROW. Enemies. for. its. —The. small-bird. 21. is more than a match which there are plenty. Shrikes,. resourceful English sparrow. enemies,. of. Many are killed grackles, and small hawks and owls take their toll. on the highways by speeding automobiles; motor vehicles are increasing in numbers and in speed faster than the birds can learn to avoid them, and nearly as many English sparrows are killed on the roads as all other species of birds combined; most of those killed are young and inexperienced birds.. The. natural elements take heavy. toll. on rare occasions.. Sparrows. are hardy birds and generally can stand extreme cold and ordinary. winter storms, but those that roost in city trees, as they formerly did in large numbers, are sometimes killed by heavy sleet, hail or rain storms. Ruthven Deane (1908) mentions such a catastrophe that occurred in Chicago in August. A "torrent of rain which is seldom exceeded in force or quantity" lasted most of the night, while the birds were roosting in the trees. He quotes Luther E. Wyman as saying: "My own observations were confined to Garfield Park, where they roost in great numbers. Here I found them dotting the grass under the trees, but massed around the trunks of the larger trees, though many lay even under such dense-growing shrubs as the lilac. * * * The area I examined would cover probably less than a third of a city block, jet I found upward of a thousand birds, all sparrows but one, a young robin." But the worst enemy of the English sparrow is man. Repenting of his folly in introducing this alien species, he has tried his best to exterminate it or control it, but with indifferent results. Various types of traps have been used with temporary success, but the sparrow soon learns to avoid them. Grain poisoned with strychnine will kill a few sparrows, especially if they have been baited to some chosen spot with wholesome grain, but after a few have been seen to die, the survivors will avoid it; furthermore, it may kill other birds. The most effective method of driving sparrows away from premises where they are not wanted is by persistent shooting and by repeatedly destroying their nests, both of which methods will eventually discourage them. A. long trench can be baited with grain, and, after the birds have learned to feed there, a large number can be killed by a raking shot. The use of light charges anywhere about the premises will not frighten away other birds. Nests should be removed regularly from the boxes, and most of those on trees and in vines can be reached by a long pole with a hook at the end. Where sparrows roost in large numbers in vines on buildings, they can be driven away by heavy spraying with a hose for several nights in succession; this also cleans their filth from the vines. This method is also effective on their nests, as it makes the nests uncomfortable and is likely to kill small.