Omaha daily bee., 1908-10-04
TO DEFEND YANKEE SPARROW
Vices of Foreign sparrows Make Ma
tive sOngster suffer in Public
Estimation.

NEW YORK, Oct. 3.-Because not one
American in a hundred has been found
who knows the difference between the
pestiferous European house sparrow, COM
monty known as the English sparrow, and
the intensely valuable sparrows native to
this country, an educational campaign IL
being launched in this city today with the
object of making every citizen Of the
United States acquainted with his feathered
compatriots. Taking as a text the sins Of
the foreign bird, which are visited upon the
head Of his innocent American cousins, the
National Association OF Audubon societies
is planning to establish what may prove
a university Of ornithology for the nation.
When an adequate endowment for such an
institution is provided 1t is intended to
carry the simple facts Of bird habits and
economic value to every mind in the land.
That ignorance of the distinction be-
tween the native sparrows and the injuri-
Gus species from across the ocean is caus-
ing the wholesale slaughter of Americas
most valuable bird race has been proven
by recent Investigations Of the projectors
of this scheme. Great numbers Of the
little Yankee birds, who Il has been shown
clear, 30 per cent Of the weeds from every
garden and field, are found to be falling
before the uniformed revenger of the
ravages of their cockney cousins. That "a
sparrow Is a sparrow has been discovered
to be the unhappy belief of the great
majority Of the people Of this country,
where the pest of the English house spar
row is being more and more resented.
With a score of such species as the tree,
chipping, field, swamp, lark, grasshopper,
vesper and song sparrow, the junco and
grosbeak, enlisted to kill weeds and harm
FIJI inQaOta far fha forraar onA orcharaget
In every section of this country. the gov
eminent authorities have declared the
American sparrows to be ''of greater value
to agriculture han any other species and
we'll worthy Of protection and Encourage
ment." Exhaustive scientific Investigations
by these experts have proven that the ma
tive spsrrows are practically innocent of
consuming any cultivated fruits, while the
English sparrow is n notorious destroyer Of
buds and blossoms, grain, fruit and garden
seeds. This imported house sparrow,
utterly unlike ours, is also guilty of driv-
ing away native birds from their fields of
usefulness and In addition is noisy and
filthy, befouling vines and buildings.
Ever since 1880, when mistaken zealots
brought the English sparrow to this coun-
try to exterminate c~aterpillars, the Ameri-
can people have failed to dirferentiate the
NlTlueb VI tltlT own Htlle plCuS from the
vices Of the European species, the Audubon
workers declare. The failure of the
foreign sparrow to do anything but drive
away birds who could consume caterpillars,
as we'll as the subsequent reyulsion against
the spreading pest from Europe, has been
visited unjustly upon the native species by
their own people. they assert. In this one
instance 1t is believed the project for a
national educational movement is war
ranted.
The case of the maligned American spar
row is a straw showing the sad economic
loss and injury due primarily to general
lack of Information of our national bird re-
sources;" said William butcher. president
Of the National Association of Audubon
societies at It's headquarters, 1n Broadway,
today. I'VE have labored to offset this by
sending 1,OO0, 900 educational leaflets, re-
ports and colored plates throughout the
country this year. Our greatest field is in
the schools where the teachers and chill
dren Of the nation are already picking up
this seed we are sowing. We want TO
reach every farmer, orchardist, ranchman
and forester in the land, as well, with the
facts about his bird helpers; these great
industries would be practically impossible
without the help of birds. But this should
only be a beginning. I hope soon to see a
national university of ORTHODOXY made
possible by some great philaDthropist
through which this educational work OF
ours may be brought to every inhabltant
In North America"