The English Sparrow Passer Domesticus In North America Especially In Its Relations To Agriculture

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This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Excerpt from The English Sparrow (Passer Domesticus) In North America: Especially in Its Relations to Agriculture The English Sparrow question in North America has grown to be a serious problem in economic science, particularly so far as the agricultural interests of the country are concerned - and the term agriculture must be here understood in its broadest and most comprehensive sense as including the grain-growing industries, truck-gardening, fruit-growing, the cultivation of flowers and ornamental shrubs and vines, and even forestry. It was deemed proper, therefore, that this question should be made the subject of the first bulletin of the newly established Division of Economic Ornithology and Mammalogy. The information necessary to a complete understanding of the subject has been collected with great care; the evidence submitted has been honestly weighed, and the results impartially stated. The labor of collecting and arranging for publication the matter contained in Part II, together with the authorship of most of Part I, has fallen upon my assistant, Ir. Walter B. Barrows. Brief portions of Part I, including the tables relating to the increase and spread of the Sparrow, were prepared by myself and are here reproduced without quotation marks from my annual report for 1886. Section 2 of Part I, consisting of recommendations for legislation and recommendations to the people, has been written jointly by Mr. Barrows and myself. Prof. C. V. Kiley, Entomologist of the Department, has kindly contributed a full and valuable report on the Insectivorous Habits of the English Sparrow, based chiefly on the examination of stomachs submitted to him by this Division. Section 4, on the Destruction of Sparrows by Poisons, was prepared by Dr. A. K. Fisher, assistant ornithologist, by whom the experiments were conducted. Section 5, on Trapping the Sparrow, was contributed by Mr. W. T. Hill, who makes a business of trapping Sparrows in Indianapolis, Ind, The cuts illustrating Mr. Hill's article, together with the description of the apparatus used, were taken from the American Field of January 14, 1888. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Best known as the author of the pioneering Key to North American Birds, Elliott Coues (1842-99) was one of America's most renowned but least understood ornithologists and historians-as well as a naturalist, anatomist, taxonomist, writer and editor, Army surgeon on the American frontier, occultist, and the youngest person ever to become a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Now available in paperback, this comprehensive biography of a brilliant, ambitious, and phenomenally productive man ranks as the definitive life of Elliott Coues.

Behold the most despised bird in human history! So begins Jan Thornhill’s riveting, beautifully illustrated story of the House Sparrow. She traces the history of this perky little bird, one of the most adaptable creatures on Earth, from its beginnings in the Middle East to its spread with the growth of agriculture into India, North Africa and Europe. Everywhere the House Sparrow went, it competed with humans for grain, becoming such a pest that in some places “sparrow catcher” became an actual job and bounties were paid to those who got rid of it. But not everyone hated the House Sparrow, and in 1852, fifty pairs were released in New York City. In no time at all, the bird had spread from coast to coast. Then suddenly, at the turn of the century, as cars took over from horses and there was less grain to be found, its numbers began to decline. As our homes, gardens, cities and farmland have changed, providing fewer nesting and feeding opportunities, the House Sparrow’s numbers have begun to decline again — though in England and Holland this decline appears to be slowing. Perhaps this clever little bird is simply adapting once more. This fascinating book includes the life history of the House Sparrow and descriptions of how the Ancient Egyptians fed it to the animals they later mummified, how it traveled to Great Britain as a stowaway on ships carrying Roman soldiers, and how its cousin, the Eurasian Tree Sparrow, was almost eradicated in China when Mao declared war on it. A wealth of back matter material is also supplied.