My 



To 



Son Sa 



The Companion of 



You re Wrong, 

 Sir, Sparrows 

 Aren't Vandals 



BY BOB BECKER. 



At last the lowly English sparrow 

 has a real champion. This sassy little 

 gamin has been the target of many 

 verbal attacks lately. We have heard 

 from dozens of bird fans who are 

 down on the sparr> 



But now conies Samuel A. Harper, 

 author of " Months with the 



Birds and the Foots," to champion the 

 cause of the little Britisher. H : 

 ments in behalf of the sparrow are 

 as foil 



"At the outset I a- Meltje 



Blanchan, who says ' Ind 

 deal of nonsen.^' nit the 



sparrov, .is. . . . 



The sparrows are prepared to live 

 while others would starve. They kill 

 no other birds.' 



" I feel." continues Mr. Harper, 

 '' that there are at least two very sub- 

 stantial reasons. why extermination of 

 the English sparrow should not be ad- 

 vocated. First, the grave danger that 

 uninformed persons would kill a large 

 number of other useful species of spar- 

 rows by mistake, and second, because 

 the English spar rremely use- 



ful in certa; .-? of the country 



by reason of its feeding habits. 



"As to their destructiveness, they 

 certainly are no worse than some of 

 our favorite home birds. Robins often 

 destroy cherry, olive and other fruit 

 crops, and the bluejays and the black- 

 birds are quite as destructive as the 

 English sparrow. 



" Much more good would be ac- 

 complished if we directed our fight 

 against the arch enemy of all birds, 

 the house cats, which many people 

 allow to roam at will, each killing at 

 least fifty birds in the course of every 

 year." 



