THE LA RUE HOLMES NATURE LOVERS LEAGUE 



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I The La Rue Holmes Nature Lovers League I 



By George Kingle, Summit, New Jersey 



"The Guide to Nature" is the official organ of the LaRue Holmes Nature League. It is im- 

 portant, for the general League interest, that the magazine be liberally supported, through the active 

 cooperati' n of League members — George Klingle. 



L. H. Nature League Motto: "St lf-sacrifice; heroism for another." 



Reports concerning conditions on the 

 L. H Nature League Bird Refuge, on 

 the New Jersey coast, off Stone Har- 

 bor, state that the recent season was a 

 verv favorable one for the occupants 

 of the island. 



The Short Hills High School Chap- 

 ter organized in January. The follow- 

 ing names officers being chosen : Pres. 

 Catherine Campbell ; Vice-Pres. Jean 

 Baker ; Secretary, Ruth Gosling ; Treas- 

 urer, Charles Schenck. 



The book entitled "Useful Birds And 

 Their Protection," by Professor Fore- 

 bush, State ornithologist of Massachus- 

 etts, will be presented, as a prize for 

 the best paper on the subject ; The 

 Economic Value of Birds ; manuscripts 

 to be presented to the General Secre- 

 tary by March 15th. 



The most recent additions to the 

 L. H. Nature League membership are 

 the Neptune School Chapter ; Ocean 

 Grove; the High School committee be- 

 ing Glaydes Flitchcroft ; Helen Eng- 

 land ; Anna Diehl, and Florence How- 

 ard : the Cranford High School Chap- 

 ter ; Pres. Eugene Lawler ; Sec. Clar- 

 ence I'ansee ; Treas. Elmer Packer ; and 

 the Lincoln School Chapter, Westfield. 

 All of New Jersey. 



January 30th, 191 2. Thermometer 

 registers sixteen below zero, but a 

 phoebe is forcibly telling his name. 



February 10th. Early morning; 

 thermometer at ten below ; phoebe tell- 

 ing that he is there. 



February 9th. Miss C. B. Thompson 

 of L. H. Nature League, Asbury Park, 

 N. J., reports a song sparrow, a white- 

 throated sparrow, and a Mock of red- 

 polls and gold finches seen during the 

 recent cold davs. 



Notes on the English Sparrow. 



BV ALl'KKD C. KIXSEY, SOUTH ORANGE. 

 NEW JERSEY. 



Not to take the other side of the 

 question just for the sake of argument, 

 but to present fact for scientific knowl- 

 edge, this last summer I learned that 

 the English sparrow at times does 

 some good. When the periodical 

 cicada was present in greatest num- 

 bers, throughout at least the vicinity 

 of South Orange, New Jersey, this 

 sparrow was very beneficial, not only 

 in destroying these insects — the cicada 

 did little harm — but serving as a 

 scavenger. At times the dead cicades 

 were actually a nuisance. But the spar- 

 rows soon obtained control of the sit- 

 uation and cleaned the streets, eating 

 little else for a number of days. It was 

 inteiesting to note that in many obser- 

 vations the procedure of the sparrows 

 was the same. The insect was usually 

 caught by one wing ; placing the cicada 

 on the ground, the bird, with its beak, 

 broke off the wing by turning it back. 

 The insect, thus disabled, was at the 

 mercy of the bird, which broke off the 

 other wing, and the two smaller wings. 

 Then the bird cut the insect in two, 

 at the joining of the thorax and abdo- 

 men, eating out the abdomen, leaving 

 the hollow shell, and passing to 

 another. 



This observation, as well as others 

 I have made, bear out the belief that 

 the English sparrow is at times in- 

 sectivorous and beneficial. Though I 

 must add that 1 still believe its injury 

 is great in driving out such birds as 

 the bluebird and house wren, both of 

 which I have observed are deliberately 

 driven from their nestings by the spar- 

 row. 



