98 THE HOUSE SPARROW. 



of affairs has been unhappily brought about. These 

 disastrous consequences will continue to follow the 

 diffusion of the sparrows, unless means for prevention are 

 taken. This species has no enemies, and consequently 

 has nothing to fear. It is warmly domiciled, carefully 

 fed, and sedulously encouraged to multiply. There is 

 no natural check to its almost unlimited increase. If 

 allowed to shift for itself, it is possible that the dis- 

 turbed harmony might be re-adjusted in the long run, 

 for nature is full of resources for all her emergencies. 



"We do not often give her the opportunity, but thwart 

 and baffle her with the most determined pertinacity. 

 It was only the other day that the shrikes (Collurio 

 borealis) made their appearance upon Boston Common 

 and began to decimate the ranks of the sparrows a little, 

 when a crusade was instituted against them, by some 

 person or persons who had the affair at his or their 

 whimsical command. This was undoubtedly the first 

 indication of a natural healthy reaction against the 

 sparrows which has occurred, but it was most fatui- 

 tously nipped in the bud. 



What would be the result if the sparrows were 

 permitted to brave the seasons for themselves, and to 

 seek their own subsistence as our own birds are com- 

 pelled to do, it is difficult to imagine. At any rate, the 

 special fostering of these birds by housing and victualling 

 should be stopped. Let them be thrown upon their own 

 resources, and take their chances with our smaller 

 native birds, and see how they will fare. 



Deprived of their daily allowances in the heart of 

 large cities, where there is a scarcity of vegetable food- 

 stuffs, it is probable that insect diet would be appro- 

 priated with a better gusto. Pressed by hunger, and in 



