HOUSE, or 'ENGLISH,' SPARROW. This typical sparrow (Paraita domestic()) is the most familiar fringilline bird of Europe, and latterly of the whole civilized world. It is indigenous to Europe and Asia, where it is only partly migratory, and a constant attendant upon man kind. It was not known south of the Sahara, nor in Australasia, until the European coloniza tion of those regions eaused its introduction there; and since 1850 it has become a resident of both North and South America. Everywhere it flourishes, increases with amazing rapidity, and impresses itself upon the locality by its adaptability, and pugnacity toward native birds. From the earliest times it has associated fear lessly with mankind, and has been a denizen of towns more than of the country. This charac teristic is most prominent in the new countries, where it clings at first to cities, and later spreads along railroads and other highways to the in terior towns. It remains everywhere a town bird, rarely visiting, and never nesting in, the wilderness. To this urban habit is due in large measure its extraordinary hardihood and prolif icacy, for in town it can always find an abun dance of food in the streets, or about warehouses, railroads, etc. Consequently it is nearly inde pendent of season in breeding, and may rear several broods a year; moreover. its nests and fledgelings are safe against nearly all the enemies and dangers which beset the lives of wild birds. The result is a longevity and a rapidity of multiplication which may speedily render the species a serious local nuisance. This is felt in the more populous parts of the Old World, as well as in the countries to which it has been transplanted, and where it flourishes with ag gressive vigor.
While the sparrow seems able to eat all sorts of food, it is naturally graminivorous, and only when young, or in feeding its young, does this species consume insects in any considerable quan tity. Its services to agriculture in this way are so limited in time and amount that they are insignificant, and more than overbalanced by its incessant attacks upon the smaller insect-eating birds, which otherwise would come freely about villages, orchards, and farmhouses. In the United States it has greatly lessened the number of such birds in some localities, or at any rate has driven them away from villages and farm steads—partieularly bluebirds, wrens. and all sorts of swallows, whose nests it destroys or appropriates; but there is reason to believe that the native birds are learning more and more how to cope with this bandit. :Moreover, in sonic districts, besides great destruction wrought to the buds of fruit-trees, the sparrows annually migrate in summer in large companies to the grain-fields. and devour or shake down quantities of ripening grain. A third evil attributed to this bird is the spread of disease, due to its propensity for using feathers and rags in the construction of the nest, and for placing this nest upon or as near as possible to the house; since it may, and frequently does, gather these materials from infected clothing or bedding thrown out of sick-rooms.