EDITOR'S TABLE. 



413 



increase the usual rate of their multi- 

 plication ; if it is true that they are 

 quarrelsome and pugnacious little crea- 

 tures, and by their bad dispositions and 

 excessive numbers are driving out oth- 

 er birds, and consuming the means of 

 subsistence, which all should share, and, 

 moreover, if they are specially destruc- 

 tive to buds, fruits, and grains, as is also 

 alleged, so that on the whole they may 

 do a great deal more mischief than 

 good then it is just as proper to 

 destroy them as to destroy any other 

 pests. If such is their character, pro- 

 tection should be withdrawn from them, 

 and they should be exterminated in all 

 suitable ways. Mr. Bergh ought to have 

 addressed himself to these considera- 

 tions, and shown if he can that the 

 charges against the sparrows are false, 

 and that they are entitled to all the fa- 

 vors they get. 



But he puts the case on different 

 grounds. He objects to the killing of 

 his pets for teleological reasons that 

 is, because it thwarts the purposes of 

 Divine Beneficence, and, by the promi- 

 nence he gives to this notion in his let- 

 ter, we must assume that he regards 

 it as imperative. He looks upon Dr. 

 Coues as a man who would exterminate 

 one of the " pretty little creatures of 

 the Almighty," and that he is therefore 

 an " enemy of God " ; and Mr. Bergh 

 expresses a somewhat sanguinary wish 

 that he could get hold of him, and sub- 

 ject him to the guillotine of New York 

 law. 



Now, there is something wrong here. 

 "Whenever one party wants to give an- 

 other party the law in the name of 

 God, the matter requires looking into. 

 Mr. Bergh assumes to know the Divine 

 intentions: does he probably under- 

 stand much more about them than his 

 neighbors? He seems somewhat reck- 

 less in his mental movements, but is he 

 not aware that the water hereabouts is 

 very deep ? He plays off theology upon 

 Dr. Coues, but we suspect that the nat- 

 uralist might give the philanthropist 



large odds, and still beat him at the 

 game. 



For when Mr. Bergh says to Dr. 

 Coues, " You would let loose the street 

 boys upon the sparrows, and are there- 

 fore an enemy of God," Dr. Coues 

 may reply : " How do you know that 

 the propensities of boys are not among 

 the divinely appointed means of deal- 

 ing with sparrows ? And if it is a ques- 

 tion of Divine purposes, who created 

 the sparrow-hawk the most destruc- 

 tive little savage ever set free in the 

 sky ? If you wish some pointed infor- 

 mation regarding the intentions of the 

 Almighty in respect to the treatment 

 of sparrows, consult the excellent vol- 

 ume on birds by the Rev. J. G. "Wood, 

 page 85." 



Should Mr. Bergh see fit to comply 

 with the suggestion, he will there find 

 that sparrow-hawks for some purpose 

 have been provided on a very large 

 scale, being plentifully found in all 

 quarters of the world. That it may do 

 its work of destruction effectually, the 

 sparrow-hawk was made one of the 

 most vicious, sanguinary, and cruel of 

 all birds of prey. Usually very wild, 

 shy, and wary, it is difficult of approach, 

 except when " hovering about a flock 

 of sparrows," and then " the ardor of 

 its destructive propensities is so great 

 that all its faculties seem to be absorbed 

 in the gratification of the ruling pas- 

 sion, so that it is evidently unmindful of 

 anything but its flying prey. A spar- 

 row-hawk has even been known to dash 

 furiously at a man, who endeavored to 

 rescue a small bird which it attacked." 



Hawks, as is generally known, are 

 capable of being domesticated and 

 trained to hunt as in the art of falcon- 

 ry ; but the sparrow-hawk is so fierce 

 and untamable that it is the worst of 

 all its tribe for this purpose. Ic is in- 

 deed courageous, and will dash at any 

 quarry that may be pointed out to it, 

 but it is crabbed, intractable, and so 

 treacherous that it can not be trusted. 

 Besides, it "is so quarrelsome that if 



