Evening star., 1944-01-05
This. and That
By Charles E. TraceUeH.
"LANGDRUM LANE.

Dear Sir:
The sparrow is favorite of mine.
Years ago we took in a dying, injured
baby sparrow, which lived, with inten-
sive attention, and stayed in our home
for eight months. A deformed tail rud-
der and club feet kept us from releasing
it. But by accident it few out a window
and of course was lost. We grieved as
for one of the family, for the tales I
could tell you of its intelligence, love
and devotion are beyond belief
ITO be held in our hands, against our
neck, or carried in pocket was the joy
of its life-but what an individual it
was! And it knew everything going on
in that house and why. It came for
its shower bath. and knew by sight just
what 1t wanted to eat, and would turn
its head away like spoiled child if you
brought out the wrong food. A marvel,
and so I have always been interested
in its kind, and am happy that you ap-
preciate them, too.
Sincerely, L. M, B."
1t is interesting to recall that English
sparrows were first introduced into
Washington in 1871.
Cages of them were hung In some of
the parks.
There were several cages used in
Franklin square. The idea was to give
the creatures a home to which they
might return.
Common sparrows had previously been
brought to New York and other cities
to the north.
The first importation was made to
Brooklyn, N. Y, in 1850, to destroy
canker worms, which had become a pest
to shade trees.
A gentleman by the name of Nicolas
Pike was responsible To the many who
do not like these sparrows, and who
believe that they are driving out native
birds, the name is held in disfavor.
But to those who are willing to see
this sparroW's good points, and who
do not feel that our precious native birds
are such "SiSsies" as to be unable to meet
competition, these sparrows take their
place in the American bird landscape
by right of possession of qualities which
enable them to survive, and the man
who brought them in is hero.
Unlike the common sparrows taken
to the Hawaiian islands, where the
mynah birds keep them in check, acting
as natural balance, the English SPAR
rows found nothing except few hawks
and owls of which to be afraid here.
Being naturally tough and resistant,
they survived not only the attacks of
cats and hawks, small boys with air
rifles, and harsh winters, but also the
propaganda barrage which has been
sent out against them for many years.
IL
1t was found that English sparrows
were useful in keeping down the alfalfa
Weevil, and also in consuming many
cutworms which attack the same plants.
The drawback was that it was difficult
to induce the birds to come to the
country. They were naturally city and
town birds. The automobile, of course,
has so cut down on their food supply
that many of them are now found in
the suburbs of the larger cities.
They are, however, pre- -eminently a
downtown bird. and there manage to
survive the lack of food, although there
are by no means as many of them as in
the old days.
A favorite sparrow hunting ground is
along Eleventh street from Pennsylvania
avenue north. There are many trees,
and awnings, and overhanging door en-
frances.
People in the downtown have come to
recognize the charm and interest of
these surviving downtown sparrows.
Many persons daily throw out pieces
of bread. The birds are so tame along
Eleventh street that it is almost possible
to pick them up.
Some of them have nested in awnings,
and at least one store proprietor gave
orders to leave an awning up, in order
to permit the mother bird to hatch her
brood.
Amid the roar of morning traffic, the
chirp of the English sparrows is easily
heard The books invariably say harsh
chirp," but we submit that any chirp,
to be heard between 8 and o'clock in
the morning, must have bit of body
to it.
Downtown sparrows are dirty, natur-
ally enough, but in the suburbs the
common sparrows are clean, with bright
feathers, and they usually grow much
larger, especially when there is some
admirer around who is willing to feed
them.
We believe that no one who carefully
watches these birds will find much to
censure. On the other hand, he will
discover many admirable traits In them