98 THE ENGLISH SPARROW. 



simply friglittul. Tlu-ir fecundity is amazing and their adaptability apparently 

 limitless. Mr. Barrows, in a s]>ecial rcijort prepared under the direction of 

 the Government, estimates that the increase of a single pair, if unhindered, 

 would amount in ten years to 275,7 16.983,698 birds. 



As tO' its range, we note that the subjugation of the East has long been 

 accomplished, and that the conrpiest i:if the West is succeeding rapidly. It 

 is not possible tO' tell precisely when the tirst Sparrows arrived in Washington, 

 but it is probable that they appeared in Spokane about 1895. Of its occur- 

 rence in Seattle, Mr. Rathlnm says: "Prior to the spring of 1897 I had 

 never seen this species in Seattle, but in June of that year I noted a pair. 

 The following season I saw fourteen: in 1899 this number had increased to 

 about seventy, associating in small flocks." 



The favorite means of dissemination has Iieen the box car, and especially 

 the grain car. The Sparro-ws, being essentially grain and seed eaters, frequent 

 the grain cars as they stand in the railroad vards, and are occasionally im- 

 prisoned in them, hiipeful stnwaways and "gentlemen of fortune." On this 

 account, also, the larger cities and railroad towns are first colonized, and at 

 this time of writing (Jan., 1908) the birds are practically confined tO' them, 

 Tacoma ha\ing an especial imtiirietv in this respect because of its immense 

 grain-shipping interests. 



Difficult as it may seem, it is true that the English Sparrow adopts the 

 policy of Uriah Keep upon first entering a town. With all the unctuous 

 humility of a band of Mormon apostles, the newcomers talk softly, walk 

 circumspectly, and either seek to escajie notice altogether, or else assiduously 

 cultivate the good opinion of their destined dupes. Thus, I resided in the town 

 of Blaine for two months (in 1904) without running across a single member 

 of the pioneer band of nine English Sparrows, altho' I was assured on good 

 authoritv that the birds had been there for at least two years previous. 



It requires no testinmnv to shmv that the presence of this liird is abso- 

 lutelv undesirable. It is a scourge to the agriculturist, a plague to the 

 architect, and the avowed and determined enemy of all other birds. Its nests 

 are not onlv unsightly but unsanitar}-, and the maudlin racket of their owners 

 unendurable. The bird is, in short, in the words of the late Dr. Coues, "a 

 nuisance without a redeeming quality." Altho we assent to this most 

 heartilv, we are obliged to confess on the part of our race to a certain amount 

 of sneaking admiration for the Sparrow. .\nd why, forsooth? Because he 

 fights! We are forced to admire, at times, his bull-dog courage and tenacity 

 of puri>ose, as we do the cunning of the weasel and the nimbleness of the 

 flea. He is \'ermin and must lie treated as such : l)ut, gi\'e the Devil his due, 

 of course. \Miat are we going to do about it ? Wage unceasing warfare, 

 as we do against rats. There will ]iossil)ly he rats as long as there are men, 



