Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-06-19
The English Sparrow Must Go.

From the Philadelphia Times.
The English sparrow must go; but how is he
to be made 60? He will stand all the time on
the order Of his going, and won't go at all ex-
cept as he can find new fields in which to spread
desolation. He loves the milky wheat, the sue
culent bud, the ripening fruit, and he loves to
destroy ten times as. much as he can devour.
He also loves to drive away the robin the wren,
the oriole, the American sparrow, the bluebird,
and every other bird of song that makes coun-
try homes and city parks delightful.
The law now says that everybody may kill the
English sparrow, and everybody should begin at
once, The sparrow is eyerybody's foe; the toe
OF the garden, of the field and Of the songsters
OF the air, and all should join in destroying it.
1t Is plucky, reckless raider, and is as tena-
cious Of life as cat. 1t claims all seasons for
its own, and funerals seem to be few and far be-
tween in the family. They won't die in genial
spring time; they won't die in the heat of sum-
mer; they won't die in mellow autumn, and they
won't die even In bleak winter. They seem to
be able to live anywhere In all seasons, and to
multiply with fearful rapidity.
The time has come when the systematic ex-
termination of the destructive English sparrow
must begin. They have spread over the whole
of Eastern Pennsylvania, In town and country.
and in very few years there will not be a field
that can escape devastation unless the work OF
determination is commenced and vigorously
prosecuted. It would be vain for few in every
neighbOrhOod to begin the war. It must be q
general uprising Of the people against this thiev-
ing little fraud. But how ia the work Of exter-
minatiOn to be prosecuted? There is only one
way, and that is for every family to de-
clare war against the feathered scourge.
Let the shotgun do its best work around
the FARMS where its deadly mission can
be fulfilled without driving the domestic
birds away, and about country homes, where
lawns and shades are the abOdes of our own
welcome domestic birds, the percussion shot
gun and the air-gun may be used with effect
The air gun is of little practical use in making
sparrow funerals, but it is just the thing to de-
strOy their nests and the destruction of the
sparrow nests is the most important part of the
work OF determination. See that no sparrow
nest lasts long enough to send the brood out
upon the world, and that most effective assault
upon the sparrow can thus be well performed
around every home or farm by little evening
and morning watchfulness.
Philadelphia has imported and spread the
sparrow curse upon ourselves and the country,
and here the work Of destruction should be sys-
tematic and tireless. Besides DESTROYING buds
and driving the birds of song from our squares.
the sparrow has defiled and deformed our
houses and shrubbery and the war should be
relentless against it in our city. The sparrow
can't be shot In the city with safety, but if care
was taken all over Philadelphia to destroy the
sparrow nests, the work Of determination would
be speedily accomplished. Let the people in
the city and country begin at once, and few
years of effort will reward them with the prac-
tical blOtting out of the most pestiferOus visitor
OF all the feathered tribe.