The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1885-08-19
The Sparrow in America.
TYOuths Companion.


Chip, ehirp! ohirp! Twitter. twitter-
Familiar sounds are these, as they herald
the first streaks OF early morning light
SOSznds sadly mitsed for twelve successive
daRsls upon the Atlantic, where the first
sound OF the morni2g and the last sound at
night WAS the ceaseless scream of the north
west wind through The rigging.
For "A few moments after waking for the
first time on American soil / fancied myself
bOEne again, with the sparrows chirping
and twittering under my window.
On gOing into the street there was the
sparrow JUST a. / had left IL in England, but
II such thing be possible, just a trife more
audacioms and self-asseTting and evidently
master of the situation in America, Just as
ne is in England. In the struggle for
existence the pigeon. though so much lar
ger bird has no chance against the spar
row j saw one of these little marauders
drive away pigeon which had Just settled
itself 10 feed. and help himself to the BAN
quet as cody as if il belonged to him.
During visit to the navy yard, at Charles
town, Mass, / was much struck with the
number of sparrows that swarmed all over
the place, and was told that they had sue
ceeded in ejecting the native birds, and
establishing themselves in their place. In
deed, my guide expressed his opinion that if
the American eagle were to settle i'm Boston
common. the sparrows would drive him out
They would certainly try, and very probably
would succeed.
Opinions vary greatly in England respect
ing the value-Of the sparrow, seen from an
agricultural point of view.
In many respects he is an intOlerable nui-
sanee. He builds his nest i'm all sorts of
places He has not the least idea OF economy
in nest-making but stuffs any amount Of
leaves. hay, wood, string, rags, etc, into any
nook that may take his fancy.
Ivy, when well-grUwn, is always filled with
sparrow nests. but in cities his favOrite spot
Is the water pipe or gutter on the houseroofs
40 as to choke them when the rain falls. We
are obliged to protect the upper openings OF
these pines with wire cages, and even though
this precatiOn be taken, wise householder
will have his roof pipes and cutters carefully
examined as soon as the leaves are off the
trees.
In the autumn the sparrow turns his at
tentiOn TO the peas and devours them with
exasperating adroitness, splitting the pod
from end to end with single stroke of his
bill, and eating the contents with an appetite
which seems perfectly Unsuitable.
Wheat also contributes largely to the spar
rows nOurishment, Of which we had rather
an amusing proof near London.
Two or three years ago there was a great
harvest festival-a sort of Thanksgiving-in
the Crystal Palace In the centre OF the
building was a huge pile of vegetable pro-
ducts. 1t was some forty or fifty feet in
height, and on the summit was gigantic
wheat-sheaf
Now, within the Crystal Palace there is a
large colony of sparrOws. They have taken
possession of the vast building, and nothing
seems able 10 evict them, except the total
destruction OF the building, which is to them
an enormus cage. Generation after genera
ton of sparrows has been Matched in the
Palace and though few escape through
door or window, and few enter in the same
way, the majority Of them have never been
in the open air.
They congregate round all the refreshment
places, and will pick up crumbs almost under
the visitors feet. They can distinguish be-
tween the resident seasOn-ticket holders, who
never take their meals in the Palace, and
those who come on a visit The former may
walk about where they like, and the sparr0ws
take no notice of them. But no sooner do
visitors make their way towards the refresh
ments, than the sparrOws follow them, perch
on the trees or girders, and are ready for any
fragments that may fall Those who knew
the ways of the Crystal Palace sparrow were
much amused at his proceedings during the
erection of the food-trophy.
The birds deserted the refreshment-stalls
and concentrated all their attention to the
trophy. They sat in long rows on the neigh
boring girders, and bided their time The
trophy was at length completed, and the
workmen removed the scaffolding. The last
man had scarcely gone twenty yards, when
the sparr0ws swept down upon the trophy
and literally covered the sheaf with their
bodies, and when they returned to their us
ual perches, there was not grain of corn
left.
If the grass Of a lawn be worn away by ten
mis- players, and the owner tries to renew il
with grass-seed, the sparrows seem to know
all about il, and as soon as he has scattered
the seed, the birds are busy picking it up
Here is the case against the sparrow, as il
Is strong a case that farmers used to pay
boys for breaking the eggs and tearing down
the Eests, and 'sparTow-clubs'' were formed
for the destruction Of the birds themselves, q