The House Sparrow 



J. O. Skinner 



Mr. Thompson, a Canadian, referring, about twenty-two years ago. to the 

 unwise introduction into the United States of this intolerable nuisance when its 

 character and habits were so well known in England, made the following state- 

 ment : "What wonder that the English farmer stared in blank amazement when 

 first he heard of it, or that he failed to account for the action, except on the 

 assumption that America had been visited by a wave of temporary insanity." 

 We shall attempt to briefly give a few of the facts from which this inference was 

 doubtless drawn. 



The house sparrow (Passer domesticus) , commonly called in America the 

 "English" sparrow, has been known for ages as one of the worst of feathered 

 pests. The name "English" sparrow is misleading, since it would indicate that it 

 originated in England which is not really the case, for its history begins with that 

 of man, and it is referred to by Aristotle and many other European writers on 

 natural history who followed him ; in fact, there is reason for believing that it 

 was known to people of whom we have no written history. When writing was 

 invented the sparrow was selected for the hieroglyphic symbolizing enemy, and 

 proofs of its destructive habits have been cited by certain authors showing that 

 it has been the enemy of mankind for more than five thousand years. This pro- 

 lific little poacher, belonging to the granivorous family {Fringillidae), not only 

 does much damage to grain, fruit, and other products of the soil, and disfigures 

 all buildings used by it for nesting purposes, but it is so pugilistic that it drives 

 away many insectivorous birds which are of great benefit to those engaged in 

 agriculture or horticulture. More than any other wild bird, it is attached to 

 human dwellings and is not known to thrive anywhere far away from the 

 habitations or works of men, extending its range in new countries as settlements 

 are formed and lands are cultivated. 



It has already fully adapted itself to all continents and has been transported 

 to some of the most distant islands in the Indian and Pacific oceans. 



In the fall of 1850, Mr. Nicolas Pike, of Brooklyn, N. Y., brought over from 

 Europe eight pairs of this bird and turned them loose the following spring. For 

 some unaccountable reason, unless it be that they were the recipients of too much 

 kindness, they did not thrive, and in 1852 a second and more successful efifort was 

 made. In 1854 and 1858 it was introduced at Portland, Maine, and at Peacedale, 

 R. I., and a few birds escaped at Boston. 



During the next ten years it was imported direct from Europe to eiglit other 

 cities, and in one case 1,000 birds \yere sent to Philadelphia in a single lot. By 

 1870, it had become established as far south as Columbus, S. C, Louisville, Ky., 

 and Galveston, Texas ; as far west as St. Louis, Mo., and Davenport, Iowa, and so 

 far North as Montreal, Canada, thus gaining a residence in twenty states, the 



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