Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-09-09
BIRDS SLAIN BY STORMS.
kyriads of sparrows Killed by the Recent
Hurricanes
such Destruction Not Seen since the
Grent Biizxard-The Dead Birds
on Many Humble Tables.

There is no telling how many millions "a
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, when vast numbers
of feathered victims were picked up in New
York. Pennsylvania and eiswhere. after
the snow had melted. Within the last few
DAYS the parks extending from the White
House to the Capitol have been thickly
strewn with the slain. The vagrant cats
Of the city have Toasted fun on them. ana
small boys have gathered them in baskets
for eating. No table so humble. in fact
as not to have had its quota OF game thus
obtained for the trouble Of picking a. up
Reports from many states say that the
havoc among sparrows caused by the winds
mas been enormous. They have perished
by myriads.
NOT the winds. however, but the rains
accompanying them were responsible for
tne mischief. Atmospheric disturbances
oiten cause Widespread disaster 20 spar.
rows cold storm comes AT night after
ar -. are assembled in large numbers
q thelr roasting places. They ger WEI
CIulndriy their feathers, being An excele
Ient hon-conductor. keep them warm R.,f
s Snsn tne piumsge is moist and has lost An.
huihness, IL does not nearly cover tha anI
MAJ. Feathers. you see are MOI mn, o,, 81
over a bird. They are arranr,5 an ~ nn a..
ana patches here ana there. IN Won win o.
sba rI, rne ooay OF SPARROW. separating
.ne piuihes with Your fingers, you win fln1
mat IL Is actually more than half naked
me WIND blowing On the wet Leather.
Saases .he water to evaporate more rapidly
Consequently The bird gets chilled ami pers
ishes. The cause of fits death is sirnnlr -
ering OF It's body temperature Ever An =
human being lowering OF a degree or two
In temperature il quickly fatal. Thus ths
nd
likely TO succumb. Very likely some ~
them will be found I'm the morning. rut,ers
ing about on the ground, stin alive but uns
able to ny. Perhaps the sunshine reytvcs
them later In the day. During the snyino
which followed the famous blizzard the
scarcity OF sparrows was generally re-
~ Following out the motion that %
Is an Ill wind which blows nobody any
gooo. many people make practice az gath
ering the birds after storms for the table
Most people entertain a prejudice against
eauhg spafrows. Having long suspected
that II was unreasonable the writer picked
up half dozen OF the birds in the grounds
OF the smithsonian Institution on the morn.
Ing after the last hurricane. He had Their,
broiled for dinner, tasted the firS one with
some hesitation. and ate then all with
great relish. In fact they wers excellent
though each one made only a nouthfuL II
IS not surprising to learn tha sparrows
nave been used for food IN Europe for CEN
turtles. They are sold by poulteers IA Eng
iand at shilling dozen, and are consid-
are killed every autumn along tie Delaware.
not lar from Philadelphia, as tiey ere feed
Ing on the seeds OF reeds IN TN marshes
The sparrows thus obtained are prepared
and sold as reed birds in the restaurants
Further south they figure as rice birds ON
eating house tables That many Of them
are disposed Of In the markes under these
assumed names there can De no doubt
When they have been feedirr I'm the grain
fields or In the wild rice marhes their flesh
Is especially good. II caugE alive in the
city their flavor can be muc improved by
feeding them for few dayswith oatmeal
cornmeal or wheat They dcnot taste like
reed birds. but more like srpe. The meat
IL decidedly gamey. II Is aid that they
canned @ mas S pct pe ss sS
future. vytng with ortolansin the estima-
ton OF the epicure,
II the public could be edrated to a Just
as an edible. the multiplication Of the spe.
cfes might Be kept within sounds. To this
latter object the sportsma are now con-
snouung to some extent sooting the birds
To those who see Thousands of sparrows
daily. perching familiariyon their window
sihs or hopping unconcrnedly about the
by scores or hundreds. Many people, be-
lieve that wide-swake,oy could trap one
thousand day, and tat any man who
should give his entire tie to the business
could make fortune selling the birds
at the rate OF one cent ch. But as O mat
ter Of fact this little fehercd creature n
watchful suspicious, ctning and quickly
becomes 80 shy that fits one of the most
difhcult OF all birds to II. A single days
experience with trap o,gun VIII convince
the most skeptical on ts point. Il IN gen.
sparrows. The truth Is at they very rers-
~ catch one
In 1850 the sparrow ,as occupied Only
country. Within the ext I'VE years II
spread over Isl. 900 soue miles In addition.
At present It infests u whole of the east
ern half OF the Unite States. and In the
ments. The bird Is a lrasite on man. ana
nowhere In the world II known TO thrive
far away from hum, haunts. It has .
big brain and a high egree Of intelligence
Having been assocted with mankind
throughout historicatimes. II has deyel-
oped extraordinary onning. The species
Is extremely fecuns one pair commonly
raising from twent-to thirty young I'm Q
progeny Of sing couple In ten Year,
would number 275 769S
The sparrow's wot enemy is the butcher
bird. small shire. which visits most
northern cities inwinter It's peculiar
method OF captu-ir small birds and mann
mails and fmpaling rem on thorns or some
times on the shar points Of barbed wire
fences has ON been described.
Many little screec owls. too have taken
UP their residenc6n the towns having
learned to feed onparrows. They attack
them at dusk. wht the spar-ows have re-
tired for the niehtnd are not sufficiently
wide awake 20 esce. The common chick
en- hawk is sometes seen 70 dash into a
flock OF sparrowsl the street. Likewise
the sparrow hawhnd the sharp-shInned
hawk are the foesf the sparrows Many
people have noticehow spar-ows will hon
about i'm the poulr yard at feeding time
sharing the grain ith the hens and some
times driving IN latter away. Ducks
avenge such orages occasionally by
catching the spaows and eating them,
wetting them in re watering trough &c
render deglutitionssier and then swallow.
ing them whole.
whashe Wears.