The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1893-09-14
BIRDS SLAIN BY STORMS.
Myriads of sparrows Killed by the Re-
cent Hurricanes.


There is Modelling how nanny millions
OF sparrows were destroyed by the two
recent hurricanes which have swept the
Atlantic seaboard. No such destruction
OF bird life by storms has been recorded
since the great blizzard of March, 1880,
w hen vast numbers of feathered victims
were picked up in New York, Pennsyl-
vania, and elsewhere, after the snow had
melted. Within the last few days the
parks extending from the White House
to the Capitol have been thicklys strewn
with the slain. The vagrant cats of the
city have feasted full on them, and
small boys have gathered them in bas-
kets for eating. No table so humble, in
fact, as not to have had its quota of
game thus obtained for the trouble of
picking it up. Reports from many
States say that the havoc among spar
rows caused by the winds has been enor-
nous. They have persisted by myriads.
Not the winds however, but the rains
accompanying them were responsible for
the mischief. Atmospheric disturbances
often cause widespread disaster to spar
rows. A cold storm comes at night, after
the birds are assent led in large numbers
at their roosing places. They get wet.
Ordinarily their feathers, being an ex-
cellent non-conductor, keep them warm
But when the plumage is moist and has
lost it's fluf1iness, it dose not nearly cover
the animal. Feathers, you see, are not
put on all over a bird. They are ar
ranged in lines and patches here and
there. If you will examine the body OF
a sparrow, separating the plume with
your finger, you will find that it is &C
tually more than half naked.
The wind blowing on the wet feather
cause the water to evaporate more rapid
ly. Consequently the bird gets chilled
and perishes The cause of its death is
simply lowering of its body temperature.
Even in a human being lowering of d
degree or two in temperature is quickly
fatal Thus the sparrows, which cannot
find shelter are likely to succumb. Very
likely some of them will be found in the
morning 1uttering about on the ground,
still alive, but unable to fly. Perhaps
the sunshine revives them later in the
day. During the spring, which followed
the famous blizzard the scarcity of spar
rows was generally remarked. Following
out the notion that it is an i'll wind
which blows nobody any good, many
people make practice OF gathering the
Most people entertain prejudice
against eating sparrows. Having long
suspected that it was unreasonable, the
writer picked up half dozen of the
birds in the grounds of the Smithsonian
Institution on the morning after the last
hurricane He had them broiled for din
ner, tasted the first one with some hesita-
ton, and ate them ali with great relish.
In fact they were excellent, though each
one made only a mouthful 1t is not sur
prising to learn that sparrows have been
used for food in Europe for centuries.
They are sold by poulterers in England
at a shilling dozen. and are considered
delicacy. Immense numbers of them
are killed every autumn along the Della
ware, not far from Philadelphia, as they
are feeding on the seeds of trees in the
marshes.
The sparrows thus obtained are pre-
pared and sold as reed birds in the res
taurants Further south they figure as
rice birds on eating house tables. That
many of them are disposed of in the
markets under these assumed names
there can be no doubt. When they have
been feeding in the grain fields or in the
wild rice marshes their flesh is especially
good If caught alive in the city their
fiavors can be much improved by feeding
them for few days with oatmeal, corn
meal or wheat. They do not taste like
reed birds, but more like snipe. The
meat is decidedly gamey 1t is said that
they make an admirable pot pie. Posi-
bly, canned sparrows may be delicacy
of the future, vieing withortolans IN the
estimation of the epicure!
If the public could be educated to a
just appreciation of the quality of the
sparrow as an edible. the multiplication
of the species might be kept within
bounds. To this latter object the sports
men are now contributing to some extent,
shooting the birds from traps.
To those who see thousands of spar
rows daily perching familiarly on their
window silIs or hopping unconcernedly
about the streets it seems an easy thing
to kill them by scores or hundreds
Many people believe that a wide-awake
boy could trap one thousand day, and
that any man who should give his entire
time to the business could make his for
tune by selling the birds sat the rate of
one cent each. But as matter of fact
this little feathered creature is watchful,
suspicious, cunning and quickly becomes
SO Shy that it is one of the most difficult
of ali birds to kill. A single days ex-
perience with trap and or gun will con
1t is generally imagined that cats de-
stroy many sparrows. The truth is that
they very rarely catch one.
In 1880 the sparrow occupied only about
$4,000 square miles of territory in this
country. Within the next five years it
spread over 4s5, 900 square miles in adj
dition At present it infests the whole
of the eastern half of the United States,
and in the west it is found wherever
there are settlements The bird is para
site on man, and nowhere in the world is
it known to thrive far away from hui
man haunts. 1t has big brain and
high degree of intelligence. Having
been associated with mankind through
out historical times, it has developed ex-
traordinary cunning: The species is ex-
tremely fecund, one pair commonly rails
ing from twenty to thirty young in a
season If there were no deaths, the
progeny of single couple in ten years
would number 275, Tic, 69S.
The sparrows worst enemy is the
butcher bird, a small shrike, which Wis
it's most northern cities in winter. It's
peculiar method of capturing small birds
and animals and impaling them on
thorns or sometimes on the sharp points
of barbed wire fences has often been
described. Many little screech owls,
too, have taken up their residence in the