Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-03-24
Che freeman.
The English Sparrow.

ferent articles, long or short, nave appear
ed during tbs last five years, all purport-
ing to give some information respecting
the English sparrow. Most of these arti-
cles are short, few Of them are of much
practical value, and the great majority
have appeared in papers not generally ac-
cessible to Vermont readers. On this
Recount, and because the question is often
asked, What is the character of the
English spirrow?" l shall venture few
words concerning this bird.
The question is becoming one of no
litle Importance as will be at once seen
when we consider the very great rapidity
Y of increase manifested by this bird-it
produces three or four large broods each
season-and also the fact that it is already
Established in most of the large towns and
cities in the northern states rs far west as
Salt Lake City. From these centers it is
Spreading over the surrounding agricul
tural districts, and as it bids fair 10 be very
soon one of our commonest birds, its hab
its must necessarily affect the crops Of the
whole country. What shall the farmers do
with the already large and constantly in
creasing troops of English sparrows that
are visiting their fields? Is this army to
be one of allies in the destruction of in
sects, or of foes because of the destruction
of grain? Are the birds to be, rs now,
protected and allowed to increase without
check, or shall they be driven away or
destroyed? When we are asking such
questions of bird so we'll known as the
Bird in question it would seem that def
nite answer might promptly follow, but
this not quite true in the present instance.
a If we examine any number of the arti-
cles that have been written about the
asparrow we shall find very great disagree
ment among them. We shall find some
writers asserting that the bird never does
I any harm, but does much good, and we
shall find others with equal positiveness
denying both these statements and very
cmphatcally asserting that the bird is
altogether harmful. Some very fierce dis
cussions of the habits of the bird have
been carried on, but now most ornitholo-
gsts, possibly all, are agreed as to the
essential valuelessness of the sparrow, and
most declare it n "pest' and a "nu-
sance.'
a 1t is a fact generally admitted in Europe,
where it has long been we'll known bird,
that its food consists largely of grain aud
seeds. On this account some of our best
ornithologists sounded note of alarm
when it was first introduced here, an
alarm which, it is needless TO say, was
altogether unhceded.
In those places-as Brooklyn. N. Y.
and Boston, Mass, where the English
4 spnrrow was first introduced, a marked
elimination in the number Of certain nju-
rious insects was noticed, and the birds
Received great credit for their beneficial
efforts, and it may be that some at least of
this was justly due them; but it seems
very probable that other causes, which
worked independently of the birds, and
would have acted had they never been on
4 the ground, tended largely to produce the
decrease in the insects and in some places
where the friends of the birds declared
that they had driven of or destroyed
Z soon showed that these pests still abound
Il ed. But, even if the sparrows had proved
valuable insect dsetroyers in the cities
where insects were more plentiful than
i grain, it does not follow that when the
y cities were so overrun with them that the
D necessity OF finding food drove them into
= the surrounding country, their attention
would still be directed chiefly to the bugs.
4 This might or might not have been the
case, but, as the result shows, it was not
We are not left to conjecture in the mat.
ter, for, from more than one locality, COM
plants Of injuries done to grain crops by
English sparrows have come. | will not
j these complaints: In the CultiUator dnd
\ Country Gentleman for January 80, 1879,
we find the statement that These pests
alighted upon piece of corn, tore open
the ends of the ears with their strong bills
and fed upon the soft grain. In this way
+ nearly every ear over Il large portion Of
the field was damaged before it became
too hard for them to operate upon"
We also find that these birds devour
fruit and prove very mischievous in tho
vegetable garden and that in some places
they have damaged grain. Testimony Of
s. This sort is accumulating on every hand.
81 From such facts as the above, and from
the known habits of the bird in Europe,
M Syria, India or wherever in the old world
& it has lived, we may conclude that in its
rapid increase there is great danger to our
crops. But the story does not end here,
s for, not only does the English sparrow not
destroy such numbers of insects as has
been supposed, not only does it destroy
grain, fruit and other crops, but it attacks
and drives away birds far more useful than
s itself. This last statement has been very
warmly denied-some persons even declar-
ing that they never had so many bir ds OF
different kinds about their dwellings as
since the sparrows came.
Il can reconcile the very opposite state
ments which have been made concerning
. this matter only by surprising that the
3 birds are more friendly towards other
birds in some localities than in others.
4 However this may be, it is certain that the
weight of both authority and numbers is
against the sparrows. They have time
AMI again been seen to attack and drive
away blue birds, robins, etc and also to
eat the eggs and kill the Young of other
birds.
cannot sum up this matter better than
by quoting from an article on this subject
by DR.. Cones in the american Naturalist