THE OLD-WORLD SPARROW. 65 



The insect legions that sting our fruit, 

 And strip the leaves from the growing shoot, — 

 A swarming, skulking, ravenous tribe, 

 Which Harris and Fitch so well describe. 

 But cannot destroy, — may quail with fear ; 

 For the ()ld- World sparrow, their foe, is here. 



The apricot in the summer ray 



May ripen now on the loaded spray ; 



And the nectarine on the garden-walk 



Keep firm its hold on the parent stalk ; 



And the plum its fragrant fruitage rear ; 



For the Old- World sparrow, their friend, is here. 



That pest of gardens — the little Turk 



Who signs with the crescent his wicked work, 



And causes the half-grown fruit to fall — 



Shall be seized and swallowed in spite of all 



His sly devices of cunning and fear ; 



For the Old-World sparrow, his foe, is here. 



And the army-worm and the Hessian fly 

 And the dreaded canker-worm shall die ; 

 And the thrip and slug and fruit-moth seek 

 In vain to escape that busy beak ; 

 And fairer harvests shall crown the year ; 

 For the Old-World sparrow at last is here. 



The English Sparrow, now so commonly seen 

 in all of the parks, and, in fact, streets, of New York, 

 Brooklyn, Jersey City, and Hoboken, was first intro- 

 duced by the Messrs. Reiche in 1858. The cost of 

 the first importation was partly paid by Mr. W. H. 

 Scheiffellin, who had a quantity of them set free in 

 the garden of his palatial residence in Madison 

 Square, New-York City. The quantity of sparrows 

 5 



