THE UNDERLYING IDEA 63 
and succeeded in inducing his colleagues in a scientific 
society to share his interest in them. Not wishing to 
commit the newcomers suddenly to the rigors of the 
American winter, these men built a large cage for the 
sparrows, meaning to set them free in the spring. For 
some reason or other when the winter was over the 
birds were all dead, and this first attempt to introduce 
the sparrow into America failed entirely. The little 
bird had won so many friends that his success was 
now sure. Tinding a favorable opportunity, these 
Brooklyn men dispatched an order to a man in Eu- 
rope, asking him to supply them with one hundred 
English sparrows. The consignment came in good 
shape and the birds were liberated on the edge of 
Brooklyn. This was the first of a number of intro- 
ductions. A little later New York City sent for two 
hundred and twenty of these interesting creatures and 
turned them loose in her parks, while Rochester, with 
what was then considered great public spirit, pur- 
chased one hundred for herself. But the most pro- 
gressive city in this respect was Philadelphia. She 
had long been troubled with the spanworm on her 
trees. This detestable larva had the unpleasant fash- 
ion of lowering itself by a long silken thread from 
the shade trees then so abundant in that beautiful city. 
The spanworms traveling around over the clothing of 
the passersby were so objectionable to everybody that 
