The Red Cloud chief., 1879-11-27
The American Career Of the sparrow.

The first attempt, aS far ~ l. known,
Ia Introduce the common houSc-spaTTow
Of Europe to our country WAS made 10y
Il gentleman named Dc-hloiS. in Port
land, Maine, during the autumn Of lNjs;
he brought over a few birds from the
Continent. and liberated thcmin a large
garden which was situated within the
central part of the cIty. They remained
there sheltered and secure under the
caves IF a ncighbOring church through
out the winter, and in the following
spring settled down happily enough Ia
the labor If nc>t-bUilding and rearing
their Young. Two ear later the first
pair of these tinchcs We're set ~ liberty
near Madison Square. New York City :
the importation was steadily repeated.
the birds being released in the Central
Park and IT Jersey City. They were
first introduced To Boston in 1865 hy the
city government, and Ia Philadelphia by
the municipal authorities in 1863, and
from these small beginnings the house
sparrow has been spread all over this
Northern country wherever we have q
city east of the Rocky Mountains, and
the iluttering ilocks of the robust, noisy
little foreigner ~cnliven the streets there
of in every direction. Their numbers
are nearly countless.
The object at first for the introduction
IF the hou>e-sparrow does not seem to
have been of a practical suggestion,
but rather one in the nature IF Scnti-
mcnt. Since. however. the attention If
the citizens was called to the great nui-
sance Of the existence of canker and
Measure worms in the shade trees IF the
old cities of the Union. the fact that the
ho~use-Sparrow would remain with
us all winter, and feed as ener-
getically upon the worms aS n Of our
own birds-which always, without
exception. left for warmer climes every
season-the thought of practical appli-
cation took life in encouraging the in
PRODUCTION of the English sparrow a. a
means Of relief more certain than that
afforded by any OF all IF our indigenous
finches. As soon a this became gcner-
ally understood, the little John Bull was
distributed with great industry all ~
the country for this purpose but a. sure
as il became numerous in any town or
city, a spirited opposition sprang up tn
it, and exists to-day with more or less
vitality in every section where the bird
is fairly settled. Whole books have been
written pro and con. and n~aturali,t> have
waged unrelentiug war upon one an
other, ~ they differed in estimating the
value and the services Of PyrgiH do
mestica: but in the Judgment Of the
writer, the entire practical bearing Of
the controversy has not been fully pre-
by either the friends or the foes
Of the little finch. for it must seem clear
enough tn those who will follow the line
If argument in this article hat while
the h~ouse-sparrow Is eminently fit and
wonderfully well constituted for life in
Northern cities. vet il i a sad rowdy
and nuisance in the country; while
in the former case it renders admirable
in destroying insect pests that
iisfigure the shady venue Of city for
estry, Yet in the latter field il a not
compete with our native birds in ento-
molo.ical service to 4 and having
given good reason for dislike On the
part of the growers of fruit, they are
ioubly incen>ed because the law viii
not allow them to shoot trap, ar de-
,troy the enemy.-Prof. II. ~. Eliot.
Harper'S for N0rcmj-r.