Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-11-09
THE ENGLISH SPARROW
VIGOROUSLY DENOUNCED BY CAss1Us
M CLAY.
He Is an Unmitigated Nuisance and Must
Be Killed OFF BY All
Means.

In 1862 a gentleman returning to
San Francisco from Australia brought with
him two pairs of English sparrows, which
were subsequently turned loose in that
city. From these two pairs of birds the
increase has been so enormous that the
State is now overrun with the little pests,
and active measures are being taken in
many cities to get rid of the nuisance.
The same state of affairs exists throughout
the East, and there is a universal demand
for the destruction of the sparrows.
Among those who have given the sub
iect special attention, is Cassius N. Clay,
of Whitehall, Ky, who sends the follow
ing letter to the editor of the Louisville
Courier-Journal:
In your journal of June 18th ultimo, a
writer, at. S" attempts to defend the En-
glish sparrow, in reply to my paper call
ing for its destruction.
first saw the 'house sparrow" which
is European in its origin, in St. Peters
burg, Russia latitude 600 north, in 1861.
It feeds in great numbers in the streets of
St. Petersburg, winter and summer. The
wealthy Of that city use private carriages
but as there were then no street cars, the
mass of the people used the single-seat
droskey, drawn by the small Finland horses.
These horses, of course, are very numer-
Gus, and feed upon grain in troughs In the
streets. When to these are added the
horses of the army and private subjects, the
number affords great droppings, in addition
to the lost grain, which seems to be the
only feed of the sparrow the year round. |
saw no caterpillars in the surroundings of
St. Petersburg, and in fact, no birds but
the gray European jaekdaw.
l never heard the question of their de-
stroying caterpillars discussed till my re-
turn to America in 1869. My objection,
however, to this sparrow was Its filthy
habits, soiling all the buildings of the city.
As am great lover of birds, and their
lifelong defender, | listened very eau
tiously to the sparrow discussion before |
deserted them, with the majority Of Amer
leans, as being granivorous, but partially
insectivorous, and destructive of almost
the whole of the cultivated loras, and the
exterminator of our beautiful lnsectlyorous
songsters.
As soon as / saw them on my grounds,
in 1880, at once shot and ate them, as
they are delicious for the table. Thisprac-
tice l continued ever since; but the num-
bers coming from our county town, Rich
mond. six miles (air line) away, or else
where, have increased until | have been
forced to ask for help.
Having given all my experience here, l
was without proof that "T. s." was wrong;
so l sought for the experience Of others,
and finally got a volume of 400 pages (sent
by the Secretary, Hon. J. NJ. Rusk), de-
voted to all the issues in contest. This
work, of the most thorough and elaborate
kind ever published, is issued by the De-
partment as Bulletin No. H., Washington,
1889. 1t is prepared, by DIR. c. Hart Mer-
RAM, Ornithologist, and by Walter B.
Barrows Assistant Ornithologist (1S8S).
These men, having as scientists all the
mental breadth and logic which made
Junius celebrated as political writer,
sustain all the positions of my first letter
and settle the question forever. | might
be content to stop here: but for the COM
mon good | give a brief synopsis Of the
facts and reasoning.
The English sparrow f'dSser d0meSttcus) J,
it says, is Indigenous to Europe, and
should not be called English, but the
''house sparrow" which its scientific name
indicates. The house sparrow must not
be confounded with the American sparrow
-"chippy" (Spiselia sociais), which is much
smaller and not gregarious, building in
honeysuckles and shrubs at our very doors
in well-made nests.
The English sparrow was first intro
duced into America in 1850, but took hold
as a seIf-supporter several years later. 1t
had already been condemned for centuries
in the old countries; and imported into
Australia and New Zealand in modern
times, it is a terrible pest, like the rabbit.
The importation first began in the cities,
followed the highways of travel, following
the favorite food-grains and animal
droppings, undigested grains-and, like
mosquitoes, even carried in empty cars.
Filling up the cities, it has spread into
the country, and has learned to build rude
nests, as other birds, in trees. 1t remains
the year round in one place, and only emf
CRATES in search of nesting places and more
feod At the lowest estimate it breeds,
say five young birds at setting, and sets
five times a year. If the first springlings
themselves don't breed the first year, there
would be twenty-five birds from one pair
in single year-the product of the elder
birds of the same year. The Agricultural
Department gives the increase of pair of
birds in ten years, under the most favor
III