Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-09-12
BOGUS ,EsEED BIRDS.
Sparrows Trapped i'm Large Quantities
and Sold TO Restaurants.

BOGUS creed BIRDS.
Sparrows Trapped i'm Large Quantities
and Sold 10 Restaurants.
IL
THE POLICE OF THE NINETEENTH DISTRICT DIS
COVER TWO MEN SHARING BIRDS ON THE IVY
COVERED WALL, OF THE. FIRST UNITARIAN
CHURCH. +
From the Philadelphfs Press.
A policeman of the Nineteenth district, while
standing at the corner of 10th and Locust
streets. last night observed two men moving
about in mysterious silence in the yard attached
to the First Unitarian church. There was just
barely light enough for him to distinguish some
sort of bundle which they appeared to be carry
ing. The officers first impression was that
grave robbers were seeking an entrance to the
church vault, but upon second reflection, not
being quite certain whether there was any vault
in the church. he grasped his club and crept
across the street to reconnoiter, prepared to
shout "ire." murder" or '.burolars." as the
developments of the occasion might warrant
Taking position where he could see and vet
not subject himself to observation. he watched
the two men. They both carried nets similar to
those in which professional sportsmen catch
| reed birds. They approached the UNCOVERED
wall of the church circumspe.tly. and with their
nets enclosed fully forty square wards of its sur
face Having attached the nets so that whatever
birds might have been in the ivy could not es-
cape. they began to scientifically bag their prey
which was not a difficult task, as the affrighted
birds betrayed their presence by plaintive CHR
| rups, which gave way to shril 'peeks." as the
two men stuck long, sharp-ponted steel skewers
into their bodies. Probably three Of the poor
birds had been thus dispatched when it suddenly
occurred to the policeman that they were killing
sparrows. He emerged from his post of obser-
walton, and striding toward the church. said:
Eli! there; get out OF that now, right away"
The two sparrow killers tore down their nets
| and scampered away down 10th street as fast
| as their legs could carry them. Over 100 spar
rows. thus released, flew out from amid the ivy
and settled in the tree tops, chirrupping at
great rate. The policeman picked up three dead
sparrows at the bottom of the church wall.
They were quite dead. having been stuck through
the breasts. They were still bleeding.
TRAPPERS AT WORK.
Several nights previous prominent lawyer,
who is devoted reed bird shooter. was passing
the same church and saw two men, probably the
parties afterward seen by the policeman He
stopped and asked them what they were doing.
They replied: Catching sparrows"
"What for?" asked the lawyer
''TO sell for reed BIRDS" was the answer.
This is not the first time sparrOws have been
killed and palmed off as reed BIRDS The police
are cognfzant of number Of cases where the
larity. not only in the outward appearance of
the birds when plucked but also as regards the
flavor Of the flesh when cooked, helps the decep-
ton. which finds its origin. of course in the
high price and comparative scarcity of the reed
birds, which are regarded as a great decacy by
| epicures, who say, however. that the sparrow is
| really as ''goOd eating" as its more arstocratic
ue-blooded cousin, except for the prejudice
which prevails against it, The sparrows are
caught in nets. as are the reed birds. plucked,
StrunO on a cfjo fr;p
and sold to unsuspecting restaurateurs who
dispose Of them, on toast, as the genuine arti-
Gle. These sparrows can be found for sale in
many cheap basement hOstelries along SAMSON,
Lombard and South streets, and in many places
in the lower quarters of the city. There are
men who exc out comfortable subsistence
during freed bird days. by shooting, trapping
and catching the sparrows in nets. The two
species of birds fatten about the same time
The habits of the birds are not dssimilar. They
both fly low.
DECOY BIRDS.
The sparrows, like the reed birds, are sus-
picOus of ordinary devices for their capture
but have not yet mastered the mystery of tine
"decOy Bird" which consists of live bird
attached by string to the nets, which are two
in number, so stretched as to fall together upon
the birds when pulled by long string held by
the sportsman, who is often two squares away.
Usually several sparrows are used as decoys.
AS many as oUO sparrOWS have been caught at a
time. There are a number of hunts in and
around the city. frequented by the sparrow
hunters. They seek ivy covered churches, and
houses and willow clumps
The manner OF preparing the sparrow does
not differ from that in the case of the reed bird
except. that the sparrow meat is somewhat
tougher, and requires little more careful
cooking The sparrow, when nicely Drowned,
favored and mounted on toast is so deceptive
that old sports are frequently unable to discover
the fraud. Many Of the sparrows are sent out
through the adjacent country and sold in the
restaurants and hotels for fancy prices and at
enormous profit. Experienced cooks say they
are frequently at a loss to decide whether or
not the birds offered for sale by suspicious
dealer are really reed birds or sparrows. They
profess, however. that the flesh of reed bird is
little whter the veins little bluer and smaller
and the legs better shaped. There are other
characteristics which enable them to tell the
difference, but they are often simulated, and
not to be relied on implicitly.