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the sparrow, apparently on the principle that that which is very 
common is not held in much account. But when any one has 
been to America, he comes back with an increased respect for the 
sparrow. There is in America a little insect, the canker-worm, 
which destroys the noblest trees. You may imagine what a grief 
it must be to a man to see the stately elms which surround his 
dwelling perish, one by one, from the attacks of this insidious little 
pest. And, in order to protect their trees, they cover their trunks 
with sheet tin, which they then paint with coal tar; and the effect 
of this is, that the worm, striving to make its way up the trunk, is 
unable to make its way over the tar. But you may well imagine 
that it does not much improve the appearance of the trees to be 
painted black, and I well remember the astonishment of a young 
Englishman who had never been in America before, when on 
taking a drive out of Boston we came to a country house, and he 
saw that the trees around it were painted black—“ Has there been 
a death in the family ?” he said, ‘‘and have they been putting the 
trees in mourning?” Now, it so happens that there is not a bird 
in America that will touch this worm, whereas the English sparrow 
goes in for it with the greatest avidity, and so for many years the 
Americans have been casting longing eyes upon our sparrow ; and 
while in many places in this country the farmers have been forming 
clubs to destroy him, the Americans have been making earnest 
endeavours to naturalise him. After many abortive attempts, they 
seem now to have hit upon a plan which seems likely to be suc- 
cessful. They have let loose the sparrows among the trees of the 
parks attached to the great towns, where they will be under the 
protection of the police, and also of the public sentiment. They 
have erected little houses for them among the branches, and in 
order to domicile them there, supplied them in the first instance 
with food, and it was amusing to see the sparrows going in and 
out of their little houses, while the Americans looked on with 
benignant interest. So now the Americans seem to be in a fair 
way of gaining their object, and succeeding in naturalising the 
sparrow. And perhaps it may afford something of a lesson to us, 
not to undervalue a thing because it is common, and not to ignore 
