X. 
“So dainty in plumage and hue, 
A study in gray and in brown; 
How little, how little we knew 
The pest he would prove to the town 
17 
N 1851 and 1852, at Brooklyn, with many 
promises of benefits to be derived, English 
sparrows were introduced to this country. This 
was a most unfortunate event. It was expected 
they would eat the repulsive measuring worm 
that was destroying the foliage in our park and 
avenue trees. They did not destroy the pest nor 
its white moth progenitors; and any good they 
may have accomplished toward this purpose has 
been nullified by their own subsequent career. 
This harsh voiced foreign tramp, pernicious 
and productive beyond belief, is likely to overrun 
the country. Parks, avenues and gardens of our 
cities, towns, villages and country homes beyond 
have been taken by these peace disturbers in 
numbers so extreme as to almost exclude our 
native birds. Where we had the music of song 
birds and the direct benefit of many native birds, 
we now have the indecent wrangling of this 
English sparrow. 
“From dawn until daylight grows dim, 
Perpetual chatter and scold. 
No winter migration for him; 
Not even afraid of the cold.” 
Especially are these unwelcome interlopers re- 
sponsible for the decrease in the number of help- 
48 
