Morning journal and courier., 1883-07-26
Thursday, July 26, 1888.
THE SPARROW WAR.


 What has come to be known as ''the spar row war; is raging again, and it is noticeable that the sparrow's defenders are dsereas- ing in numbers and confidence The re- l fusal of the little pest to eat the disagreeable hairy caterpillars which abound this summer has not helped hiUs any, though an unpreju- diced person can hardly blame him for de- | clining tc Gse his little stomach in that way. Ten years ago Dr. Elliott Ceues, the cele- brated ornithologist, predicted just what has come to pass since the English sparrow was welcomed to this country. His prediction was based upon his knowledge of the nature and habits of the bird and the results of it's introduction into other countries Dr. Coues now says: It Is always one and the same story, whether of plants or of animals, when exotic species, fitted by nature to thrive best under conditions which man himself affords. are imported and naturalized in any country The white weed and some of the thistIes and various other noxious or undesirable plants, the house rats, reaches, etc, all belong to the same category to which we have added the sparrow, with the same result that has at, tended its introduction in Australia and New Zealand. In Australia, for example, the gov ernment has found 1t necessary to take the most active steps to suppress the bird, ap- pointing commission to report the best means for its extermination, offering boun- ties for it's destruction, etc.
 Dr. Coues points out that the hostility be- tween the sparrow and native birds is now admitted, our best songsters and most agree able feathered friends being invariably oust- ed by these sturdy vulgari ans It is also we'll known that the sparrows fail tc do, or do but imperfec tly and exceptionally, the work of insect. eaing which they were imported to perform. Their rate of incre ase is extra ordinary They normally breed during the greater part of the year, raising five or six young at nestful, and have, in this country at least, absolutely no checks upon their linn itless increase--a rate of propagation which the law has done everything to foster. They gre still confined mainly to towns and cities, where they are rather a nuisance than pos tive damage, but the worst is yet to come, when in due time they overflow the country and descend upon the farmers crops. We already have loud complaints from agricul- turists, though we have had the sparrows in numbers for only about decade What will it be generations hence? Present indications are that some millions of dollars will annual ly go down the birds throats.
 But though it is pretty generally admitted that the sparrow is nuisance which ought to be suppressed the difficulty is to find some way of suppressing him. Men and small boys could shoot 8 few of them, but it would be poor and unremunerative sport. They are said to make fair pies, but the trouble of making sparrow pie would be. we should think, much more than the thing was worth. Perhaps the only way they can be materially reduced in number is by offering them poi soned food. And even this might not work, for the wise little rascals might decline to be taken in by it.