Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-01-01
The Sparrows
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To the Editor Of The Evening Star:

10 the EDITOR OF The Evening Star:
notice two articles in The Star highly
commencing a lady for feeding the English
sparrows in the parks. I do not question
the good intention of the lady in question,
or of the party who commends her as 1.-The
good Samaritan" but I am surprised that
any intelligent person can think the per-
petuation and increase of the pestiferous
sparrow here or elsewhere Is praiseworthy
act. View them in whatever light you may,
the sparrows are an intolerable nuisance,
for "all their deed are evil" They have
driven away nearly all our song BIRDS
Formerly the house wrens every season
made their nests and reared their young in
the tree boxes that put up for them in my
back yard. but they long since abandoned
them, being driven away by the sparrows,
which fought them viciously. The robin,
formerly so plentiful here and whose voice
gladdened all at the return Of spring. Is now
but seldom seen In our parks or yards, hav-
Ing been driven away by the quarrelsome
fighting sparrows. But worse than all else
they have driven away nearly all the insect
iverous birds. which did SO much to protect
our fruit and shade trees from the devour-
ing insects. In addition to this they roost
over the doors and windows and under the
cornice, or wherever they can find a shelter
ing projection. ana befoul, the porches, win
dow stills and walls with their drOppings, as
also the summer seats in our lawns-build
down spouts or in the cutters, from which
the material used for their nests washes
down the rain spouts into the traps at the
bottom and stops them up, and when cold
weather sets in they freeze and burst, when
the water soaks through the wall into the
basement, necessitating digging up the trap
and putting in a new one at considerable
expense, at the same time in5uring the lawn
or grass plat. My own property has been
thus injured to the extent of several hun
dred dollars by them in tiishway.
Not only that but they pick off and de-
stroy the tender buds, iof both fruit trees
and Towering shrubss 4anda also destroy
cherries and similar small fruits when ripe.
At the time of the centennial fair in 1876
friend planted a centennial cherry tree in
front of a window in my side yard. 1t grew
cherries were ripe or nearly so the spar
rows bit piece out of the side of nearly
every cherry on the tree. thus destroying
the fruit. Time and again have sat at the
window and seen them take a bite from first
one cherry and then another until the whole
were practically ruined! It was useless to
drive them away, for In few minutes they
would return in increased numbers.
1t is a remarkable fact that when they
were first introduced into the United States
In 1850 it was with the idea that they were
an insectivorous bird and would destroy the
caterpillar and other injurious insects that
were destroying our shade trees and flower
ing shrubs Their injurious characteristics
were we'll known abroad, so much so that
bounties for their destruction, the same as
is now done by some of the states for the
destruction of wolves and other wild ami
mails. So little was then known in this
country OF their Injurious habits that Con-
gress passed an act imposing fine Of s.