The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-04-07
PROGRESS OF A PEST
All Accusations Against
Sparrow Are True.
ENORMOUS DAMAGE IS DONE
Furthermore, II Has Surrendered
It's Instincts without Advancing
Its ReasOR-Is NOW Of No Pleasure
to ObserVer-Decrense of English
Clubs Considered a Calamity.


Clubs Considered a Calamity.
Winter IS often claimed as an admirable
time for observation of birds They show
up with distinctness, they grow tame
with the cold, and approach our dwell
ings. If the number of species Is fewer
than in summer, our native birds atone
by superior holiness, and they are, after
all, more worth our admiration than most
Of the migrants. Those who have en-
ioyed this feature OF winter, when, as the
blind and foolish say, the country is dull
ana ugly. win have found their pleasure
steadily dwiudling during recent years,
says the London outlook. The cause lies
not IN themselves, or IN any falling Of
zest, but in the degeneration Of the birds.
/ write with picture Of a garden lying
III the midst of a favorite bird haunt
fixed in my mind. In the tracery Of the
trees are shown up gncomely Jumps that
look Ike clods thrown ID at random.
These are the nests Of sparrows. who
have lately taken to this unnatural choice
of locality for no other reason than want
Of room elsewhere. For this garden is
dominated by sparrows. They roost SO
thick along a hedge in it that at evening
it looks like a tree in heavy fruit
In a holly-bush they are packed tight
~ enough. and so low down as to attract
rats. For crumbs thrown from the win
dow they viii compete even wiki a dog,
just as IN some suburbs they seem II
have lost all proper fear OF the cat. I
knew a delightful and very humane old
woman who spread out on q suburban
lawn a quarter Of a loaf daily for the
poor dean birds" Every day the old
womans cat hid behind the laurel. and
every day caught its poor dear bird feed
ing on the crumbs. In a state OF nature
the car would have had to find new fields
after the second attempt.
Heavy Toll on Farmers.
Much has been written Of the destruc-
tveness of the sparrow. Of the huge toll
that he. levies on the farmer, and the
need of his determination in behalf of
agriculture. All these accusat tons are
true. Mr.. Tegetmeir has accumulated
proof long since until no more is needed.
The sheer cost OF sparrows 10 the coun-
try amounts to thousands Of pounds.
But there is another accusation, equally
severe on the sparrow, which has not
been brought into court Thanks TO the
abundance Of food which his boldnegs Ell
ables him 10 find and 10 the protection
of his numbers he has surrendered his in
stincts without, 50 20 speak. advancing in
reason. This building in trees gregaTi-
ously Is one example. Here and there
they have been found. in the manner of
our civilized man, building in fats; two
or three families housed more OF less
above each other in an anonymous stack
Of straw and feathers.
Confession of the same loss Of instinct
Is advertised tn the appalling untidiness
OF these nests pltchf0Tked into the low
b0ughs of a maple. or loaded on the lofty
platform OF the spruce boughs. They
scarcely build nests, but rather pile stocks
into which they burrow holes Yet now
and again some relic Of suspicion that
udiness is demanded appears in their ac-
tons. One nest on London ledge last
year was conspicuous for long straw
sticking out from the side. IL was ap-
parentiy unheeded TIL one day, when
the nest was completed. tie cock bird
became, so It appeared, suddenly ashamed
Of the workmanship. The straw stuck
in his gizzard, and he determined to
have away with IL, For some time he
tugged In vain, till at last with a final
splendid effort, he pulled half the nest
ever the ledge.
Life Made Easy.
This straw may be taken 10 show which
way the wind blows with the domestic
sparrow. All difficulties have been SO
tempered 20 him By the support of men
and their dwellings and their crumbs.
that he has nc need TO struggle for ex-
fstence. and for want of that happy in
centive is on the way to degeneration. It
would nos be surprising If one year. some
disease broke out among them. as II has
often broken out among rabbits when
they have been overcrowded, but hither-
10 he has fourished progressively.
/ always fancy that sparroWs are big
ser now than they used 10 be. Just as the
pigeons In tire park, large and overfed
have developed into what. if we could
reckon by weight, and TO some extent by
color might be called a new species
More than any bird sparrOWs disregard
the seasons, though here the pigeon gives
parallel case. I watched sparrows
building with great vigor during the last
week of November, and I think it is like
~ that they viii develop the habit of
roOsting I'm the old nests during the Win
ter, In the way of the jenny wren, which
VIII cOngregate in packs of six or eight
in old nests. / know one instance where
several of hem We're killed by the fall
of a swallows nest into which too great
burden had crushed, on a cold winters
evening.
Is Following the Startling.
~ hen . hfrT Laaftr,s- a.. A.
it becomes a thing of no pleasure to the
observer, and generally. unless domesti-
Gated, q creature of considerable danger
to its neighbors. The startling has lost
instinct in the same way as the sparrow;
his nesting places grow less and less
clearly. The proper principles of econ
omy in nest building do not much concern
them. bird that builds in a hole is
not tempted to extravaganza and cannot
display untid!ness; but I'm the ma4er Of
egg-laying. no animal has so dangerous
~ discarded natural carefulness. THEY
drop eggs on the ground anywhere. ana
the only pity Is that this waste appears
10 have no effect on the multiplication of
their species. Like the sparrows the
starh7g is now hostis humani generis.
though still no birds are more beautiful
to watch when they maneuver their bat
talions with Prussian precision ana more
than Japanese mobility in the spaces Of
the air against winter sky
In general the humanitarian view of
bird protection is the right one / see
that many fishery boards are protesting
against the Increase of cormurants. ana
writer's are found TO maintain that the
bird serves mo- useful purpose in the
great scheme Of nature. Why should i
him sar.a > L-sefuI n---nnsnz L..LsLn--.-