New-York tribune., 1884-10-02
THE SPARROW MUST GO.
DECLARED A PEST AND A NUISANCE.

RESULT OF INVESTIGATIONS BY A COMMITTEE OF
TIE OgNIIHoLo.Isrs' UNION.
The fate of the European house sparrow. Pa'ser
domcsticvs moro widely known az the English spar
row. hangs in the balance He has been in the
hands Of n committee of tie American Union of
Ornithologists and this committee yesterday laid
its report before the Congress in session at the
American Museum of Natural History. Tho spar
row was entirely unrcprcscntcd on the committee
and the friends of the bIrd claim that tbs verdict Of
such lury should be set aside At any rate the
sparrow may congratulate himself upon putting the
committees to considerable trouble and expense.
The report was presented by Dr. Holder. Of the
Anericnn Museum Of Natural History IN u paper
called "'lho Eligibility of the English Hpnr0w.'
Ilo aid The question Wng oi enormous importance.
Thousands of circulars asking for Information ob
tbs 1ucstiop hnd bron distributed. and nnswcrs
bad been received from nl parts ot the counlfY
from California 10 Canada. Philadelphia was Tho
CENTRE Of ngitiiion AGAINST the sparrow, being al
most sody opposed TO the bird.
The sparrow was introduced into Eastern cities
in 1903. Ia ten years II spread through New
England. Letters from South Atlantic states and
the interior Of Southern States state that the spar
row has not been seen there yet. From all the ey-
lcncc in its possession the committee concludes that
wherever the sparrow is found at distance from,
thickly populated centres il has been nyoluntary
introduced Upon its arrival in America the spar
row gained reputation an insect-catcr 1t was
considered the deadly foe of the measuring worm.
The weight of the evidence in DR.. Holders opirion.
was tha, the sparrow was nuisance, that its ca
| pacty for destruction was immense, and that II 1t
ever became as numerous in the West it is in the
| East the grain crops would suffer beyond calcu-
| lation
| The report contained some contradictory evidence
Dr. Cooper of California. wrote that sit is never
seen to attack other birds though it sometimes
| cupies their nests. thus crowdlng them out
Another wrote: Il is a canker worm cater" DR..
| Brewster wrote Markedly, repeatedly and with
| appalling rap'lity they are killing and Irving
away our native birds" Nicholas, Pike, of Brook
yn. wrote Think does not molcst or drive away
| spiders and laryI OF most insects and icnneimom
| flies. know this from observation and dissection"
Mr.. Stewart of lIackensack wrote: saw them
| destroy "a crop of wheat" An English farmer wrote
that sparrows ate third Of his crop of wheat
| One of the most alarming features OF the case Dr
Holder thought was the rapldity with when spar
| rows increased. 4 sparrow will have SIX broods
I in season. four or five IN a brood.
"What do You mean by a season y inquired Dr.
Warm weather. replied DR.. Holder The birds
| take a vacation during the winter months"
Some of correspondents continued Dr
| Holder, think some plan for killing them on should
be devised" He read few of the plans suggested
| In Philadelphia an attempt was made to deplete
them Dy using them III q"
| pigeons but this shcemc fell through, as the aver
age Philadelphia wing-shot found 1t a difficult
matter to hit pigeon and the sparrows took the
| matter in the light of joke Huge oclIs of them
| made il point to roost in the nclghbOrho0d OF a
| pigeon match in order to see the fun Western
divine wrote that he had given the matter OF spar
| row-extcrmination deep thought. II ought to he
done with as little cruelty as possible ana ne ieit
| SAT Isficd that whOlcsac slaughter OF painless
character conld be accomplished with the aid OF a
steam fire engine The committee was not in favor
of advocating this scheme without trial. In Aus
tralia they tried poison 1t killed lot OF sparrows
II also Killed lot of poultry and other valuable
stock.
TIE coia,uittce felt satisfied that the sparrow
should co. na there i room for u here and that
the Legislatures of the various states should he
requested to take the necessary ste Tor lts eXtcr
mination At present II is projected by law ~ New
York ono. Vermont Massachusetts. Now lamp
sirc New-.IcrScy the District of Columbia, Name.
Rhode island aud Canada
Dr. Holder said that the committee would like an
extension of time to finish its report. The report
, a. read was adopted and it was then recoIhnIt ed
to the committee. which was gwen tie power 20
finish il aud to discharge itself with the unanimous
thanks OF the Union.