St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-06-21
SAINT PAUL.
ALL ARouT THE. spaRRows.

The increase of the sparrow in st.
Paul is causing uneaSineSs among those
who labor under an impression that
the little brown foreigner makes it
point TO kill every other bird he comes
across. heard even so conservative
man as Thomas Cochran, at meeting
of the Humane society, recently, at
which the feathered population was be-
ing discussed, say in an emphatic tone
that the sparrow was menace TO
American birds generally, and that the
sooner it became extinct in America
the better he would be pleased. To be
exact, | believe he was even in favor OF
inaugurating crusade against the
sparrow at once.
The sparrow in America was the sub
ject Of a discussion by number of gen.
tlemen at the Ryan hotel yesterday aft
ernoon One of the guests engaged III
it was Leslie F. Holmes, noted as one
of the best friends of the feathered spe-
cies in England, and member OF the
Society for the Protection of Wild
Birds. There is perhaps no man better
qualified to speak on the habits OF Eng
liSh birds, and his remark to one OF the
party with whom he was conversing, on
the great number of sparrows he had
seen in ST. Paul, was what led to the
discussion. In it the pugnacious little
bird, which is seen lodging carriages
and wagons Oh the busiest streets every
day, was very roundly abused by the
st. Paul gentlemen in turn. One as
serted that the sparrow was driving the
American song bird from its native
heath. Another that it was destruc-
tive to crops, especially garden
crops, such as peas, beans, etc. Still
another wouldn't have anything to do
with the bird because it was not pretty,
and had to be almost kicked cut Of the
way before it would move aside. Finally
all the gentlemen admitted. i'll sub
stance, that they knew nothing except
what they had heard, regarding the
habits Of the bird they were condemnlng.
The friend of the sparrow, who had
listened quietly to the Remuneration OF
his pets, asked if there were many spar
rows in the country outside Of the cities,
and the others had to admit that they
had seen none in the country, but sup
posed they were thick enough. Mr..
Holmes proceeded toinform his hearers
that the sparrow existed entirely on the
Larvae of insects, and would eat nothing
else when such food was ptocurable.
1.-The sparrows ] see here" he said, "are
house Sparrows, species never
found anywhere outside of the
cities. So far as l have been able
to discover. the tree sparrow, which is
an entirely different species, and which
is never seen 10 city, is not to be
found anywhere in this country. have
seen specimens of the white-throated
sparrow (zonotrichia albicollis}, but this
species is distinctively American, and
the English bird cannot be blamed for
any depredations it may commit. AS
the house sparrow is well known to in
habit cities only, and the tree sparrow
is unknown to the country, it is difficult
to discern in what direction the de-
structiveness of the English sparrow
has been directed. AS to its pugnacity,
it must be admitted the sparrow is we'll
able to take care OF itself, but the fights
which occur are usually family affairs
sparrow a. nst sparrow. L should
that there was very little real founda-
ton for the statement that the other
birds are being driven from the country,
because if such result could be pro-
duced by the pugnacity of any species
the American king bird would long ago
have depopulated the woods and for
eStS."