Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-02-21

Qu8ntltftt
ported. are % many highways along which
thsss birds have Travelled sloviy from place ts
place. More or less scattered grain 10 AWAY,
| to be found along these lines of traffic and the
| sparrcws naturally follow them. Carriage
roads have ssrved the same purpose. the trail
Of food being furnished by horse droppings
But the birds always prefer the city to the
country. II obliged to seek the latter how.
ever, IN search Of food or shelter. they soon
| adapt themselves and learn how 10 build nests
| in the trees. Often they utilize the nests Of
native birds - foundations for their own com
paratively rude structures. first driving away
the rightful owners Of the domiciles
HOW TIE SPARROW BOON WAS STARTED
What originally recommended the English
sparrow, SO called, for importation to this
country was the association Of home with the
bird in the mind Of many people who had come
TO America from abroad. The little feathered
Creature 10 common all over Europe, under the
name OF house sparrow" and gets the name
applied to II In the United States merely from
the circumstance that il was brought over from
England. II Was in 1850 that the first batch
was fetched from Liverpool to Brooklyn. From
thas time on they we're imported season after
season and turned loose in various cities.
At the beginning they were carefully fed
and protected, and so multiplied fast No
sooner had they become fairly numerous at any
place than people began to take them to other
places few pairs at a time. Reports of bene-
nts done by the birds in protecting the trees
from insects gave rise to a belief that they
would prove beneficial wherever they could be
naturaiized In this way veritable sparrow
boom was started and the price of them went
up to such point that many persons found i,
cheaper to club together and have the sparrows
shipped to them direct from Europe. 1t was
In this manner that there was deliberately in
troduced in the United States a bird which even
then had for years been recognized abroad as q
costly psst and a nuisance.
FOR FOOD AND SPORT.
Recently the sparrow has come to be recog-
nized as qnite game bird-at all events ~
appreciation. It il sold ct restaurants much
more commonly than 10 imagined under the
name OF reed bird" or rice bird" according
TO season. Game dealers buy and sell them by
the hundreds and even thousands. Plucked
and made ready for sale they are not easily to
De distinguished from the real article which
they are intended to counterfeit Nor are they
far inferior in flavor. They are usually fat,
make excellent pot pie and are considered ex-
cellent eating by those who have tried them.
VI late, also. sparrows have been employed
to considerable extent for sporting purposes,
serving In place of pigeons in shotgun matches.
Men have even gone into the business Of trap
ping and netting them for sale with this object
In view. Decoy birds fastened SO to attract
sparrows on their way home to roost are some
times employed. After being caught theyare
confined in houses specially designed for the
purpose, capable of holding several thousand
birds, which are provided with hundreds Of
movable perches. When the birds are to be
shipped all openings to the house are closed
ana the perches removed, after which the spar
rows are driven to one end and through a
chute. The narrow end of the chute enters the
door OF cage, In which they are inclosed and
counted They are fed during confinement on
cornmeal and wheat. Sparrow trap shooting
has been practiced in England for a great MANY
years. the bird with its cunning tenacity of
lie and prompt and vigorous flight. affording
the sportsman target requiring the highest
degree OF craftsmanship. In many parts Of
Great Britain sparrows are sold by poultry
dealers under their real name for q shilling q
dozen.
DAMAGE IN THE SPRING.
Among the charges recorded and proven
against the sparrow is that it commits fearful
havoc among the buds and blossoms in winter
and spring. At the beginning of the warm sea-
son any one who chooses to observe can see
these birds eating and cutting of wantonly the
streets and parks. They enjoy buds and bios
SONS at any time, but eat more Of them in
spring, because they are more abundant and
tender then and perhaps in part for the reason
that other food il somewhat less abundant
Dnring the last Of this month and from that
eating buds from the naples, elms and other
trees. You can even catch the mutilated buds
In your hands as they fall Vines and trees are
injured and even destroyed by the chemical
action Of their droppings. In this way the
luxurian: Englisn ivy which once covered por-
tons of the Smithsonian building has been to-
tally ruined. On occasions az much as two cart
loads Of nests with one thousand eggs of spar
rows have been taken from a single building.
ENEMIES OF NATIVE BIRDS.
1t Is known that sparrows modest and drive
away other birds. They take possession of the
nests or former nesting places Of the natives
and hold them against all efforts by the rightful
owners. The latter in most cases find conten-
ton unavailing and are compelled to retire
sooner or later from the field. Not less than
seventy kinds Of wild birds are attacked or dis
lodged in this manner by the sparrow and a
majority o: these are species which nest about
houses and gardens. Even pigeons and chickens
have been disturbed by the audacious little
pest, In April there are good many robins
usually to be seen in all the Washington parks.
but they are merely migratory, and those which
attempt to stay and nest here are soon driven
away.
PROTECTION FOR THE WEB WORN PESTS.
Unfortunately, although the sparrow was
originally advertised az an insectivorous bird.
there is no species o. injurious insec. eaten by
the sparrow which is not much oftener de-
voured by native birds. Not only does the
sparrow not eat the web worm. which is SO de-
structive to the shade trees Of washington but
1t actually protects the web worm by driving
away the birds which would eat il. The spar
row could not eat the web worm if il desired to
do 30, on account Of its hairy nature One en-
envy OF this insect parasite, the yellow-billed
cuckoo, IL known to shave off the hairs of the
caterpillar before swallowing it. Cases have
been known where the web worms became SO
numerous upon Virginia creepers as to denude
the vines and SO expose the roosts of the spar
rows that the latter were obliged to move to
other quarters.
In Washington the statues and fountains in
the public parks are always to a great extent
disfgured by the droppings of the sparrows.
even the benches being often SO befouled as not
to be available for use. The birds cause trou-
BILE by their attempts to occupy gas lamps and
even the globes Of the electric lights with their
nests. They collect rubbish for such purposes
with such rapidity that in q single day they will
almost fill gas lamp. Quantities of the same
sort OF material are carried by the birds into
cutters, pipes and drains Of roofs, SO as to
choke them mp and sometimes cause overfows.
As MEASURE OF DEFENSE
against the sparrow it has been suggested that
there be employed in each town or village at
least one person who shall act as professional
sparrow killer. Cities and towns are the nurse-
ries Of sparrows and will serve to furnish the
surrounding country, no matter how industri-
ously the farmer may shoot them For killing
sparrows such weapons should be used a. are
made especially for bird collectors, since they
make very little noise, and the small amount Of
powder and fine shot employed prevents dam
ACE Recommeu dation has heep made that