The Progress., 1898-12-24
THE SPARROW AND THETROUT
Concerning the English Bird and the
English Imported Fish.


English Imported Fish.
The English sparrow is one Of the
most unattractve birds-we should
say the most unattraCtive were il not
hat pictures of the apteryx and the
iodo suggest that it is possible THAT the
avian family may contain specimens
more ill-bred and generally disreputa-
Bile in appearance than he, Gays the
Hartford Courant. Both these, how
ever. we believe are extinct, having
persisted like the iChthyOsaurus of in
nate LONELINESS, and have been set
aside in the scheme Of evolution as i'm
perfect and mistaken conceptions
Tho English sparrow, therefore, re-
mains the most conditioned, disa-
yreeable-looking and unpleasant man
nered Of all the birds. 1t would be UNI
fair to compare him with our song
sparrow, for he makes no pretensons
to musical skill and frankly admits
that his voice Is harsh and strident and
ut for seedlings. chickering's and insults
only. but compare him to our famil-
lar "chippy' The feathers of the Eng
lish bird-it Is not possible, conscien-
tiously. to use the word "plumage" in
connection with him-the feathers Of
the English bird are of dull color and
look dirty and faded, his clothes have
never been brushed. His heavy bill.
coarse head, hunched-up shoulders
pugnaciOus tail, with two feathers
pulled out and one turned sidewise,'
suggest that the pronunciation Of his
name, "sparrer," is correct, for like a
professional prize fighter, he is always
quarreling out loud and practicing "the
preliminary objurgations.' Compare
all this to our chippy, whose plumage
Is neat, but not gaudy, whose form Is
the refinement of elegance and whose
air and manner are the perfection Of
cheerful courtesy. His
outline is the perfection of grace and
adjusted proportion. Observe him as
he goes systematically through the
woodbine on the piazza in search OF
nOxiOus insects-h0w thoroughly and
neatly he works, neither inviting nor
your observation. There is
no lost motion" about the chippy but
all the movements of the English spar
row are jerky and aimless as of come
thing that has no definite place In the
scheme Of creation and Is working for
one. Much the same contrast holds be-
tween our brook trout and the i'm
ported English trout known as the
brown trout" OF course all trout are |
beautiful, but the English fish Is
chunkier and blunter, the curve of the
back, which in the American Is said by |
artists to be the most beautiful line |
In animate nature, Is flattened slightly |
by the increased size Of the head. The
colors are all toned down and subdued |
by the slight but all-important degra-
1ation which marks the line between
the work of the great colorist and the
imitators. In disposition the
English trout Is at once sullen and
voracious, and Is an Unsuitable canni-
bal. The American trout, 1t Is true, Is |
not wholly free from blame in this re-
gard, but he does not devour the young
Of his own race in the wholesale and
way that marks the feed
ing of his English cousin. The con-
trast between the typical caricatures
)f John Bull and Uncle Sam Is not al
together without justification in fact.
There is a tendency in this country to
produce a Simmer, more active and
elegantly formed animal than the |
English prototype. We have no wish |
o lessen the international good feeling |
between the two great branches Of the |
people, bu! we must
Jay firmly that the pugnacious and pro-
,reative English sparrow is an ugly |
ooking bird and an unmitigated nui-
lance, without brains enough to teach
him to go south in winter or breast
enough to make him worth eating.