THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



35 



THE ENGLISH SPARROW. 



Alas for the poor Sparrow, whose 

 services by some are lightly thought 

 of, and who is discarded as a nuisance. 

 But such is the way of the world gen- 

 erally. A good and faithful servant, 

 after years of faithful and honest en- 

 deavors to perform the duties assigned 

 to him, is not unfrequently shown the 

 cold shouldei", and sometimes kicked 

 into the bargain. So it is precisely with 

 the Sparrow. After he has cleared the 

 orchards of caterpillars and our orna- 

 me:ital trees of these and other injuri- 

 ous insects, he is shown the cold 

 shoulder. The clamor is now for his 

 extermination ; but like the rat, who 

 is also useful in his way, both being 

 associates of man, who have followed 

 him from Asia in all his migrations, 

 neither now ai-e quite so easily got rid 

 of. having once obtained a foot-hold. 



Arguments have been adduced of 

 rather a hypothetical character, and 

 theories advanced that the decrease of 

 insects is diie either to insects or fungoid 

 parasites, pi-eying upon them. This 

 may all sound very plausible in theory, 

 but more enlightened investigation is 

 required to make reasonei'S believe. 



One fact is certainly patent, that with 

 the introduction of the Sparrow, bugs 

 of almost all kinds injurious to trees, 

 have gradually disappeared. Our native 

 insectivorous birds not being adequate 

 to the emergency, lience the importation 

 of the Sparrow was necessary. 



In some places in Europe birds were 

 slaughtered indiscriminately, and the re- 

 sult was a pest of caterpillai'swas allowed 

 undisturbed sway, and the birds had to 

 be brought back again. 



If the Sparrow is annihilated, a new 

 era of bugs will be inaugurated, perhaps 

 worse than what we have experienced, 

 then we will liave a confirmation of his 

 former usefulness. 



His musical talents have not as yet 

 been developed, but his song, although 



short, is often repeated, giving quantity 

 for quality. Neither is he gaudily at- 

 tired, his forte is use and not ornament. 



The Coney (rabbit), a native of Africa, 

 at one time over-ran Spain, committed 

 great devastation, just such as is done 

 in the Australian Colonies at present. 

 Some Savan advised the introduction 

 of another African animal, the Ferret, 

 the natural enemy of the Coney. The 

 country was soon cleared of the destruc- 

 tive nuisance, but when the Coney was 

 destroyed and the Ferret had no more 

 to live on, he fell back on the hen-roosts 

 for a living ; but the last evil was of 

 minor destruction than the first, and 

 more easily kept in control. 



So it is with the Sparrow, his natural 

 food is almost exhausted ; he must live ; 

 he will naturally fall back upon grain, 

 and is but poorly remunerated for his 

 services. 



Evils apparently exist in the moral 

 as well as in the natural world, and of 

 such choose the least ; it is better to 

 submit to a minor evil, provided it pre- 

 vents a greater. The Sparrow is, of 

 course, a grain eater when he cannot 

 get bugs to eat, but his good services 

 amply repay all the depredation he 

 does ; besides, if too numerous, the 

 Sparrow is more easily controlled than 

 the bug pest, which has as yet de- 

 feated human ingenuity, especially the 

 tent caterpillar, span-worm, codlin 

 moth, and fall web-worm. 



The introduction of the Sparrow as a 

 vermin destroyer, is due to James 

 Goldie, Esq. He at the time residing 

 at Elizabethtown, New Jersey. Some 

 parties interviewed him, representing 

 the ravages done by the span-worm to the 

 trees in the avenues, parks and squares 

 of New York, and asked for a probable 

 i-emedy ; the reply was given to intro- 

 duce the European Sparrow, advice 

 which was acted upon ; and as the 

 Sparrow began to increase, a corres- 

 ponding decrease took place in the 



