Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1872-07-04
Birds in Parliament.


blood-thirstiness of Mazzini, which confidential
despOts so industriously set aAoat, resolved to
get look at the Italian desperate, and managed
to get pretext for calling on him at his small
room in BrOmpton. He found Mazzini teuderly
nursing wounded bird, while the other birds
which the patriot loved to have about him
hoped around the floor, and some of them
perched upon his shoulder. The situation hardly
confirmed the police theory of MazZini which
this individual had adopted. If any one had
concluded from the Hon. Auberon Herbert's ia
nous republican speech in the house of COM
mons, which temporarily transformed that body
into iarm-yaTd of bestial noises, and concluded
that he was red handed iconoclast anxious to
set up the guillotine in Westminster hall, he
would probably have been amazed had he
been present in the house last night. Mr.. Her
bert appeared as the knight of the Little Birds,
and made one of the NEST charming little
speeches which has ever been heard in that
body. The occasion of it was bill which had
been brought forward to protect certain kinds of
wild fowl during the breeding season. The sub
ect is one which has for some time excited a
good deal of social interest. 1t used to be held
that the birds were the enemies of the gardener
and the farmer. | need not recall therefore |
recall it, the ancient song:
"Oh," says the blackbird to the crow
'What makes the people hate you so?'
ever since old Adam was dead
Picking up corn has been my trade"
This confession was not only put into the bill
of the black bird but of many others. The old
gardeners held to such theories with Supersti-
tious obstinacy, and the blackbird particularly
carol as sweetly as it might-was made par
ticepS criBliniS with the offence the crow had
acknowledged. The late Mr. Rose, head gar
dener of the royal gardens at Windsor, began
his career as bitter enemy of the blakbird, but
one day he shot one flying from strawberry
bed, and on picking it up found that it was car
rying away large snail From that day he be-
gan TO reconsider his feud, not only with the
blackbirds but Others, and the result was that he
became converted man, and his subsequent
labors were blessed to the salvation of many
from the sin of OrnithOcide But it was found
that the ancient superstition was, unfortunately,
a gainful one. 1t covered and shielded the
agents of the fanciers, who throng every field
and wood to ensnare the prettest and most
tunelul of the songSterS 1t protected these
rutiians in the miserable habit of putting out
| the eyes of the nighlingaleS in order to raise
them as decoys for their fellows. Miss Burdett
| Coutts tried recently 10 entice the night
| ingales to the beautiful trees around her
residence at Highgate, but found she was
| only enticing them into the iancicrs traps. She
| vented her indignation in the Times, and the
| excitement OF the humane became intense. STILL
| it was found that great deal Of ignorance CON
| corning the habits of small birds prevailed
among the farmers and gardeners of the coun-
| try, and this made the Hon. Auberon HerbertS
| speech very opportune. The establishment of
Inc at lnG SptCCn WIS III
| tense. The sudden introduction Of the case of
| twttering birds and blue-books, the transition
| from the Alabama case to the interests of the
| sparrow and the chaffinch was 50 drol that now
| and then some of the old politicians could not
refrain from an explosion of laughter. The
| young radical knew his audience; he knew that
the hardest old politician, much more the rug
| gedest old squire, had deep in him love of ma
| ture and q special iondness for animals and he
knew that he had a fund of new andl curious
| information to lay before them. Gradually the
| laughter was was stiIled; one head after another
was turned to listen, each face intent, and the
| young man who, when he last addressed the
| house, dealing heavy blows against the monar-
| chy, dashed it into fury, was now listened to
| breathessly, as if he had been a skiful story
teller surrounded by three-year-old children.
| Mr.. Herbert began, however, with wholesale
| indictment of another class of our fellow crea.
| tures-the lnsects-the man who can give their
| side of the question having not yet arrived. lie
| pictured them as horde of destructives invading
field and garden Then comes the army of pro-
'tection-the birds, the "police of nature" No
| doubt this teathered sOldiery have many allies
such as the bat, the mole, the shrew, the hedge
hog, and even the little glow-worm: but the
| chief part of the work Of destroying hurt(ul
insects is done by birds. 1t is probable that the
| reason Of the coming of the swallows to this
| country is the swarm of insects they find here
| The swallow feeds its young with insects S6
times an hour, the redstart % times, and the
| chaffinch. which principally uses green caterpil-
lars, 85 times an hour. The thrush begins its
daily operations at halfpast two in the morn
| ing and works on until half-paSt nine in the
| evening, and during that day of 10 hours feqds
| its young 206 times on insects. The work
| ing day of the blackbird is II hours, during
| which time the young are similarly fed A times
| by the male, and 80 times by the female parent.
| The titmouSe in the course of II house feeds its
| young on caterpars no less than AIS times
l IA Xvru ma
owl, and the three warblerS, do nothing but
| good, but there are other birds whose reputa-
ton is more doubtful, and the sparrow more
frequently falls a victim 10 prejudices than any
| other bird. Mr. Herbert told curious story
that q careful observer who watched the move
menrs of a sparrow, saw it huttering in a
| rosebush, and beating the bush with
its wings; then it dropped to the ground and
was seen to pick up the caterpillarS it had beat
| en- down, like gamekeepcr at battue. The
sparrow also does much good by picking up in
| barn-yards the grain that has been Voided.
which, if suffered to be taken into the fields
| with the manure, would be very troublesome
| Even the wo0d-pige0n, which is only partly in
| sectiyorous, destroys weeds more than good
| grain. Great destruction of sparrows has re-
| suited from the formation of sparrow clubs /"
| and Mr.. Herbert thought those who formed
| them must belong to that class Of people who
| still believe that the Startling sucks eggs, the
| blind worm bites cattle, the newt splits fire. the
/ toad splits poison, the cuckoo in winter changes
| its beak and claws and becomes q hawk, fine
| hedgehog sucks cows, and similar monstroSltes
| Even the birds called destructive, do good Jaws
| and crows destroy vperS. The raven DESTROYS
| vast quantities of rats. In Norway the magpie
| is welcomed by the farmers. Even the hawks
| destroy chiefly the weaker and diseased birds
and thus purify the breed. BY permitting the
destruction of birds, England is like
/ general shooting down his own sol
| diers These islands would be visited by
many bright, beautiful and tuneful birds now
| never seen here it they were protected when
| they came. The late Mr. Waerton had about
his house and estate 1l9 different sorts of birds
| which lived there long and happily, and he tes-
titled that he never suffered by them in field or
| orchard.
MIR. Herbert then pictured in glowing colors
| the parks as they might be il enriched by the
| CHIEF Songsers of the world, and finished with
| an appeal which would have gladdencd the
| heart of Darwin had he been present 81 base"
said he, my advocacy of the case of my eli
ents, finally. on the ground OF compassion.
These little creatures are entirely in the power
| OF man, and surely it would be a good thing for
| the national character if we would consent to
give up little of that power over the life and
| freedom OF other parts Of creation, especially
| seeing that during the time these birds are
| bringing up their young they display constantly
| those qualities of devotion and courage which
we all so much respect when exhibited by men
and women" hearty cheer followed
the eloquent gentleman as he took his seat,
and member after member arose and thanked
hIm for his charming speech. 1t is
just possible, however, that when this first glow
OF enthusiasm is over, the wings and tories may
| scent rcd-handed revolution even in this idyc
performance of the famous republican. 1t may
be remembered by some deliver into the curiosi-
ties of the past, that during the French revolu-
ton the reYOlutionists had such a horror of
bondage that they not only unbarred the prisons,
but also opened every bird cage in Paris and let
its fettered prisoner go free And they may
wag their long ears together profoundly over
this new move of Herberrs and detect in it a sly
attempt to open the gates for the free play of
all wild things, beginning with black birds, pro-
crossing to goal birbs and ending-Heayens!
by filling the air of Eng land with the screaming
eagles of freedom aud the revolutionary vultures
which prey upon the yitals of the British con
stitution!
A BIT OF POLITICAL HIsToRY.-We have
come in possession of some facts which account