ii6 Birds Every Child Should Know 



Sparrows were first imported into Brooklyn 

 in 185 1 to rid the shade trees of inch worms. 

 This feat they accomplished there and in New 

 York with neatness and despatch. Every one 

 fed, petted, and coddled them then. It was 

 not until many years later that their true char- 

 acter came to be thoroughly understood. Then 

 it was found by scientific men in Washington, 

 after the fairest trial any culprits ever received, 

 that not all the insects and weed seeds they 

 destroy compensate for the damage they do 

 in the farmer's grain fields, to say nothing of 

 their harrassing and dispossessing other birds 

 more desirable. But they kill no birds, so we 

 may hope that, in the course of time, our native 

 songsters may pluck up courage to claim their 

 rights and hold their own, learning from the 

 sparrows the important lesson of adaptability. 



CHIPPING SPARROW 



Called also: Chippy; Door-step Sparrow; Hair 



Sparrow. 



This summer a pair of the sociable, friendly 

 little chippies — the smallest members of their 

 clan — decided that they would build in a little 

 boxwood tree on the verandah of our house next 

 to the front door through which members of 

 the family passed every hour of the dav. While 



