72 ENGLISH SPARROW. 



parks and in all the gardens of the country, we have to wage constant war against 

 the Sparrow, and to assist our native birds in every way to take up their abode near 

 our home. In order to accomplish this all the Sparrow nests should be destroyed 

 wherever found. This is the best and safest way to keep the dangerous pest in check, 

 To exterminate these proletarians is out of question, but we are able to control their 

 multiplication by destroying all the nests we find, especially when they contain half or 

 full grown young. If every friend of our beautifiil native birds would do this, we would 

 not hear so many complaints about the Sparrow's invasion and the decrease of our 

 American birds. 



It is doubtless a very dangerous measure to give everybody the right to shoot 

 and kill the Sparrows. Many people, especially boys, are in many cases not able to 

 discriminate among our native Sparrows and the introduced bird. It is astonishing 

 how little most people know about our birds and how few are able to distinguish the 

 most common species. It is a great deficiency of many of our modem schools, that the 

 children are not made acquainted with the beauties of the surrounding nature, the 

 flowers, mammals, and birds, and their habits and habitat, in a pleasant and interest- 

 ing way. If everybody were allowed to shoot Sparrows, many would make use of this 

 opportunity to follow their love of sport and kill almost any bird they see. I have 

 more than once seen that Song Sparrows, Swamp Sparrows, Lark Sparrows, White- 

 throated, White-crowned, and Fox Sparrows were mistaken for the European species 

 and killed. In States where a bounty is paid for each Sparrow head, even most of the 

 oflicials are not always able to distinguish the foreign from the native birds, and cases 

 are known that a bounty was paid for the heads of Bobolinks, and even Thrushes and 

 other insectivorous birds. Instead of allowing everybody to shoot Sparrows it is 

 advisable that the community appoint some reliable person for that purpose. 



It has been recommended to poison the Sparrows, and various methods have been 

 employed, but this is not only detrimental to the Sparrows but our native seed-eating 

 birds would share the same fate. This has been experienced in Australia where the 

 settlers not only killed many Sparrows by poisoned millet, but also numberless of their 

 exquisite small Finches. The Sparrows are there still a public nuisance, but the indi- 

 genous birds are almost entirely exterminated. 



The Sparrow builds its nest in every nook and corner, in houses, bams, stables, 

 in tree holes, on trees and bushes, and, preferably, in nesting boxes. It is a bulk}' 

 structure of dried grasses, rags, strings, pieces of paper, etc., and is lined with feathers. 

 The eggs are dull whitish, thickly speckled and dashed with dark brown and purplish-gra^^ 



NAMES: English Sparrow, European Sparrow, House Sparrow, Common Sparrow. — Haussperling, Sper- 

 ling, Spatz (German). 



SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Fringilla domestica hinn. Pyrgitadomesdca Cuv. PASSER DOMESTICUS Sew abff. 



DESCRIPTION : Above, brownish, the back streaked with black ; wing with two white bands ; lower parts, 

 dull gfrayish-white or p^le grayish. Adalt male with black of throat continued over chest, where 

 forming a broad patch; ear-coverts, entirely dull grayish; top of head, grayish, with a large pntcli 

 of chestnut on each side, from eye back to sides of nape. 



Length about 5.50 to 6.2.'') inches; wing about 2.85 to 3.00; tall, 2..15 to 2.50 inches. 



