Evening star., 1945-03-22
This and That
By Charles E. TrdceueU.
SILVER SPRING.

SILVER SPRING.
Dear Sir:
Can you identify the two following
birds for me, please? Both have been
about our yard for at least a month,
probably longer
One, white bill, white tail feathers.
bluish-black color. size of sparrow.
Two, some type of sparrow-white
breast, black beard brown stripes on
back extending up sides of face, but
not on top of head
Il enjoy your column very much
reading 1t made me start feeding and
enjoying the birds about three years
ago. Very truly yours, C. N. E."
Our correspondents first bird is the
junco, or snoWbird.
The second is probably the male Eng
lish sparrow.
The males lose the black throat in
winter, and begin to get it again in
spring.
Many persons who see the bird at
this time have forgotten about the
black spot, and think they are seeing
something new.
This underestimation of the English
sparrow is common; there are still
countless persons who fail to see beauty
or interest in the species.
AS matter of fact there is no
prettier bird than the female English
sparrow. It lacks, it is true, the color
OF the cardinal and the dash Of the Jay,
but 1t has qualities in its own right
which make 1t a feature bird of the gar
den for the discriminating.
1t Is not necessary to paraphrase Lin
coins old saying about how God must
love the common people, he made so
many of them.
The English sparrow stands on his
or her own two feet.
In their own right, they are capable,
energetic creatures, clothed in pretty
grays and browns, which become more
brilliant in the suburbs.
What they have is theirs by right of
conquest, which, we may see plainly, is
one of the great rights in this world,
after all.
The English sparrow did not ask to
come here.
Unlike other Immigrants, he did not
come because he wanted to. He was
forced. He was brought here, and re-
leased from cages to make his own way.
Some few Washingtonians remem-
Der when sparrow cages were hung in
Franklin park in 1871
There was some vague idea in the
1870s that these foreign introductions
would eat pests which were then attack
ing shade trees.
Finding themselves at large in strange
land, the birds made the best of things,
in the way they have, and pretty soon
became recognized as typical town birds.
The coming of the automobile drove
many Of them to the suburbs, and bird
feeding, as a hobby, has played right
into their bills.
1t is true that to some extent they
have ousted few of the native birds
but this cannot be helped in world of
free competition.
The idea of sheltering and protecting
some species against others has little
validity in world in which discrimina-
ton has more and more lost caste.
The English sparrow is with us, def
nitely. He is here probably to stay.
Without him and the starlings and the
pigeons we would have few birds in the
business section. Un feathers, at least.)
1t may improve the status of our
English sparrow in some minds If it is
recalled that some ornithologists say he
is not sparrow at all, but weaver
finch.
Perhaps we would have done better
to have answered our correspondents
second question as follows:
This bird is weaver finch whose
relatives in Asia. Africa and thu East
Indies weave very elaborate nests"