The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1909-11-13
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CONCERNING sPARRoWs.
A Page From History-Ihe
Little Birds Are Not the
Enemies Of Man.


/
When people dcclaim against the
sparrows, as many do, the capital
charge which they generally bring is
that these English invaders have driv-
en- the native birds out of American
cities. Is II true? Convincing evil
dence that II is false as TO one city
at least may be found by any one
who chooses To look FOR il In the issue
of Appleton's Journal of october %,
1870.
In that publication there is a long
and interesting article on the English
Sparrows," from which the following
is excepted:
The street we live I'm is one of the
Oldest i'm Brooklyn, and the trees or
iginany set out have in the passing
away of two-score years, grown into
magnificent proportions. These ma
adorned highways We're always the
pride of the old population. But causes
operated to bring down the justiiiable
pride of these tree-loVing denizens.
Age i'm vegetation, however respec-
table 1t may be. has its penalties, for,
beneath the bark of these very trees,
PARASITES nnumerable had made lodg-
ments, and, gradually but stead
lily. year after year these stur-
dy looking trees developed more
and more into hiding places and
feeding grounds of innumerable poi
sonous insects and disgusting larvae.
nv a 4 o,lnr In
their pride and beauty spread out
their half-paralyzed limbs merely to
support cocoons of caterpllars or pro-
vide starting places from which insects
could descend, whirling, upon the un-
wary pedestrian beneath. Women and
children. under these circumstances,
if well-informed. only invaded the in
fected districts" from necessity and IL
an unhappy stranger was from ignQr-
ance beguiled into the vicinity II re-
suited i'm a notification of the error
by having some loathsome creature
it's cold, offensive way
over the exposed neck or face. or an
nouncing its presence by a bite which
stung to the quick. There was moth
ing about the age of these trees which
should have affected their vitality-on
the contrary, judged by the standard
Of time. they were in their prime. but
hey had become diseased because the
heaven born birds had no protection
lnder their strong arms. This inn
portant lesson. fortunately, was not
lost upon. some of the. true disciples
Of nature. BY their earnest solicitation
and ,entreaties,. these decaying and !
plague breeding trees were, preserved ]
to, be turned over to the English spar /
rows, upon whose tiny shoulders rest !
I'd the herculean task of restoring the |
sick m9p8rchs of the forest to, their
natural splendor. IL was, an Immense
CONTRAST to free private property and
the pqPiic parks from q nuisance that
to make, at least in cities,
all Vegetation a" impossibilfty; but
The idea has perfected itself into his
foricdi success, and We are now one
md all under the greatest possible OBJ ,
legation, 20 the little sparrows. ''' Y
At the time when the above words
were written the English sparrow was
a newcomer. A few brace Of the birds
had been brought across the Atlantic
and set free in Union and Madison
Squares. New York. only three years
before; but they had multiplied rapid
~. and extended their dominion to
Brooklyn in time for this tribute from
a Brooklyn citizen in the fall of 1870.
For many years they have been nu-
merous i'm nearly every large city i'm
the United States. There has grown
Up against them in certain quarters n
hostility so deadly that their destruc-
ton even by such desperate means as
the use of poison has been proposed
poison, which would imperil the lives
Of other birds as well as sparrows,
where other birds there be, And one
Of the allegations of the indictment
lgainst the sparrows has been that
they have driven out other birds-one
Of the arguments in favor OF their de-
structlon that il would be followed by
The return of martins and swallows.
BY those who have felt moved to
take part in the campaign against the
sparrows the testimony OF the writer
in Appleton's Journal thirty-nine
years ago is worthy OF consideration.
1t seems that the hardy little spar
rows made their homes In American
cities after American birds had de-
serted, and that the sparrows were
gratefully welcomed by people who
were familiar with the conditions
which prevailed at the time of their
ri,. al n.tn.l t.r.1AN L. mt