Col. William Rhodes, of Quebec, Canada, states that in 1851 he introduced Euglish Sparrows at Portland, Me. (Forest and Stream, Vol. VIII, p. 165). Others were introduced there in 1855 by Mr. Thomas Amory Deblois, and about the same time Mr. Jos. Peace Hazard introduced them at Peace Dale, R. I. These last birds came from Liverpool, England, and some escaped in Boston where they were landed. Nothing seems to have been heard of the escaped birds, however, and ten years later they were first regularly introduced into Boston Common. In 1860, twelve birds were turned loose in Madison Square, New York City; in 1864, they were introduced to Central Park, and two years later two hundred were set free in Union Park, New York City. About the same time they were first fully established in the city of Quebec, Canada, although one or two apparently unsuccessful attempts had been made previously.
In 1867 forty pairs were imported at New Haven, Conn , and the same year a colony was established at Galveston, Tex. In 1868 about twenty Sparrows were liberated on Boston Common, followed by more the next year, while at the same time twenty were released iu Charlestown, Mass., only a mile or two away. This year (1869) witnessed the importation, in one lot, of a thousand Sparrows by the city government of Philadelphia ; and this probably Is the largest single importation of Sparrows ever made to this country. The same year twenty pairs were brought from Europe to Cleveland, Ohio, and sixty-six pairs from New York to Cincinnati, Ohio. Within the next two or three years they were introduced at San Francisco, Cal.; in 1873 a colony was imported and liberated at Salt Lake City, Utah; and about two years later they were introduced at Halifax, Nova Scotia, and at various points in Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
In many of the cases thus far mentioned it is positively known that the Sparrows were brought to this country from the Old World, and mainly, if not entirely, from Great Britain and Germany. But no sooner had they become fairly numerous at any of these points than people began to take them thence to other places, sometimes in large numbers, but more often only a few pairs at a time. In most cases these few birds were carefully watched, protected, and fed, and so multiplied rapidly, forming new colonies from which the birds spread steadily without assistance, and more rapidly by successive transportations by man. This important factor in the rapid increase and wide distribution of the Sparrow in America has been too generally ignored, and it is only within the past year that we have come to realize something of the magnitude of the "craze" which led so many people to foster and distribute this serious pest. None of our circulars relating to the Sparrow asked distinctly for information about its importation or introduction, but only for the date of its first appearance. In most cases, therefore, correspondents have simply given the information asked, and only an occasional observer has alluded to the manner of its coming.
