There are few observers who will agree with our correspondent from Indiana. It appears to be an established fact that the English or house sparrow drives off our best native birds. This fact is set forth with some fullness by C. B. Cook, in Bulletin 62 of the Michigan Experiment Station, just issued. Mr. Cook declares that "Without question the English sparrow protects more insects than he destroys, by driving away insectivorous birds. That these foreigners drive away familiar native species there can be no doubt. Particularly do the wrens, martins, swallows and blue-birds suffer, as their nesting places are eagerly sought for and secured by the sparrows. Occasionally the native birds hold their own for a time, but sooner or later they must succumb. Often, when necessary, the English sparrows will club together to drive away a pair of native birds. Even the robins and the pigeons cannot withstand numbers, and are obliged to vacate, leaving their eggs and young to be thrown out of the nests and killed. If this were the worst of their attacks, we could still find some excuse for the sparrow; but they have been repeatedly found in the act of destroying, not only the nests, but the eggs and young birds of other species, with no other purpose than to exclude them from the neighborhood.

True, the English sparrow has been seen living on friendly terms with native birds, and even nesting side by side with them, but as the sparrows increase in numbers, they become more quarrelsome. As yet, the greatest amount of injury is done around cities and towns, but as the sparrows increase and migrate into the country, they are sure to take with them the same destructive habits and ugly disposition. There are people in America to-day who are staunch friends of the sparrows, but usually such people live in a locality where the sparrows have not yet become a pest".

English Sparrow.

Michigan has a law which offers a bounty for sparrows' heads, but Mr. Cook shows that this law is of doubtful utility, if not of positive mischief. Many of the town clerks, who receive the heads, cannot distinguish the English sparrow from several other native birds. "As a result, a great many birds that have been sent in for a bounty are our most beneficial birds. Thus many heads have been sent to this station on which bounty was claimed, of such valuable birds as the song sparrow, red-polled linnet and evening grosbeak ; birds that our laws protect by a fine of five dollars against their slaughter. We have a good law against destroying native birds, and every person presenting such a bird to the town clerk's office should pay the penalty, which is a fine of five dollars".

An important point in the designation of these birds is the fact that there is no bright red or crimson on the top of the head of an English sparrow. This subject is so important that Mr. Cook's full description of the pestiferous sparrow is transcribed :

"The bill is very stout, with its upper and lower lines curved. In the male the upper parts are ashy gray, while the middle of the back is streaked with bay and black. The lesser wing coverts - the short feathers at the base of the wings - are chestnut. The greater wing coverts are mostly black, though each black feather is bordered with chestnut. At the base of the large wing coverts is a white wing bar nearly an inch long. The lower parts are ashy white, with the throat black, the latter bordered on either side by lead-color, which extends to the eye. A conspicuous reddish brown stripe extends backward from the eye, separating the gray of the top of the head from that of the cheek. This broadens as it runs back, so that at the base of the neck it forms a dorsal band which extends well down towards the back of the throat, between it and which the gray color is very light - nearly white. In some cases the reddish brown does not meet above at the base of the neck.

"The coloration of the female is less definite. The head is brownish gray, becoming lighter on the throat. The back is marked much as in the male, with the chestnut varying to a yellowish brown. The breast varies from an ashy to a yellowish or dirty white. The young male is like the female. The length of both sexes - from the tip of the bill to the tip of the tail - varies from six to seven inches.

Head Of Males

The bill is always robust and black. The crown - very top of the head - is ash colored. The throat is black, bordered on either side by ashy white ; the cheeks also are ashy white. The region between the eyes and bill is black ; a white line separates the black in front of the eyes from the ashy gray of the crown ; above, and extending back of the eye, is a reddish brown stripe, which reaches nearly to the shoulder.

Headof Female

In the female the bill is slightly more slender, the color yellowish gray; the crown of the head always solid brownish gray, one color only, which point distinguishes it from the native sparrows of Michigan. The throat varies, but is usually ashy or grayish white".

This is the first Experiment Station Bulletin to deal with the English sparrow, and its advice should be heeded. The sparrow is a dangerous enemy, and every man's hand should be against it. But every man should be able to identify it. The accompanying illustration (on page 679) will aid in distinguishing the bird.

The Editor's Outlook.