especially horse-manure; but in the West, where such supplies are more limited, these granivorous birds would at once and continually prey upon the crops. I am not informed to what extent they may have multiplied already in some of the places, as at Salt Lake City, to which they have been transported, and where they have obtained a foothold; but it may not be too late, if vigorous measures are taken at once, to stamp out the plague. The strongholds of the birds are few, comparatively speaking, and isolated to such a degree that the eradication of the birds from that part of the United States may not be now absolutely impracticable, as unfortunately seems to be the case in the East. The Great Plains offer a natural barrier to the westward progress of the birds from the Mississippi; and if pains be taken to destroy the advance guard as fast as they move westward, the evils now suffered in the East may be long delayed or even avoided. In most parts of the West where the sparrows have appeared, it is believed that they have been imported, not that they reached these spots by spontaneous migration or natural dispersion. If this be the case, indeed, it may not be a matter of the greatest difficulty to destroy them, root and branch, in the comparatively few places in which they have already become naturalized. Should this be done, and laws be passed prohibiting the introduction of the birds into the Western States and Territories, immunity from invasion might be secured for a practically unlimited period. To bring this matter to the attention of the people in the West, and to urge that such measures be taken without further dangerous delay, is the object of the present paper.
This may seem an extreme course, to the few who still
