The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-05-20
IHESPARROW::A
How the Little Fellows Won in a
Battle of Wits.
WIRE SCREENS DIDN'T BAR THEM
They Enlarged the Meshes by
Squeezing Through and Now
Laugh Last.

:.Michael Breslauer has new story about
the English sparrow: it's bird. AMI
the wherefore is thus: Since Mr.. Rres-
lauer purchased a<l,andsome residence at
one Of the best householders in all the
Green's additions. His lawn has been
carefully kept; his trees and hedges well
watered and trimmed and his house we'll
painted and shipshape. Last season he
conceived severe "grouch" against the
sparrows. They built nests in every. avail
able nook about the caves, they sputtered
and scolded on his piazza roof and to
make matters worse they came for blocks
around about a. m. every day to whet
their little bills on the crook of a con-
ductor pipe just over Mr.. Breslauer's
bedroom window. "A sparrow whetting
his bill on conductor pipe sounds as if
he were shaking pint of dry beans in
ten-galIon milk can. 1t Is not con-
or body.
Mr.. Breslauer first tried air guns. He
recruited and equipped an antisparrow
league but the boy marksmen found it
lots easier to hit window lights than spar
rows and the corps was disbanded: Wheat
boiled with strycnnine proved destructive
for day but was abandoned because it
seemed really pitiful to see the birds
duttering helpless to the ground. So the
sparrows were tolerated through the sea-
son and Michael put in the winter figur-
ing.
BY spring he had the problem most hap
PLY solved. Last week an army Of paint
ers with long ladders descended upon
the place and put on a brand new coat
/ Of paint At every angle of the caves
where the conductor spouts turned, they
erected barrtcade Of wire netting and
Mr.. Breslauer chuckled as he thought
about the sparrows' discontinue. Early
next morning, however, he had an evil
dream and awoke to the horrid reality
that it had come true. There was the
same, old familiar rat-a-tat-tat on the
fastened to his lawn and found that
| small five and three-quarters sparrow
had pushed his way through the meshes
of the wire and was working his bill
down to needle point with the dexterity
of barber stropping a razor. The tele-
phone wires over the lawn were black
with chattering birds applauding the
operation and making mean remarks
about people who thought they were cute.
However, Michael consoled himself with
the thought that the bird was little
one and, probably couldn't find his way
out through the netting again anyway.
This latter theory seemed correct for the
bird remained inside long time and all
day the sparrows held their councsil of
Wal Ou Inc I61GpuOu6 WllcS. ludlly LuSy
seemed to evolve plan and the smaller
birds began to squeeze in and out of the
| wire screened nook while the bigger
ones stood on the sidelines and coached.
Gradually the mesh began to expand I'M
der the pressure and bigger and bigger
| sparrows began to take hand in the
game. They worked all day.
That night, when Mr.. Breslauer came
home, the thought he saw suspicion of
| straw behind the crook in the conductor
spout. The apparition gave him such a
Jolt that he stood on his lawn for half an
hour staring upward and pretending he
was watching the clouds. There WASH t
sparrow in sight. He did not rest we'll
that night again for he knew what to
expect. Sure enough, the next day re-
vealed behind the wire a nest as large
as a bushel basket. It had been made
ridiculously large to emphasize the spar
rows victory and the birds had then gone
TO work on every screened angle about
| the caves.
| AS matters now stand, the screened
angles are most in demand for nests for
the netting was so well put up that it
| deaes clothes poles and garden rakes and
| the nests are perfectly safe from de-
structicn. The joke on Mr. Breslauer is
SO palpable that the sparrows can all
see it even If they are English and they
revile him on sight in shockingly bad
sparrow talk. There will be another win
ter along pretty soon and he can sit up
during the long nights and do some more
| figuring