Abstract
IT is generally known that the English sparrows were introduced into the United States on the supposition that they were insect feeders, and would protect our trees from the canker-worm. For the first time in my remembrance, I have seen one attack a caterpillar this summer. Their usual food appears to be the seeds found in horse-manure on the streets. They are now universally conceded to be an unmitigated nuisance, not doing their assigned work, and preventing others from doing it. They usurp the place of the more charming native birds, the blue-bird, the wren, and the Baltimore oriole, once common in our cities. Still, we have to confess that the sparrows are interesting little creatures, aggressive and pugnacious.
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BAILEY, W. Changed Environment. Nature 40, 297 (1889). https://doi.org/10.1038/040297b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/040297b0
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