The English Sparrow 



5. The English Sparrow reduces the number of desirable native 

 birds through destruction of their eggs and young, and through usurpa- 

 tion of their nesting sites. 



6. It discourages and drives out desirable native species by con- 

 tinual annoyance and by the employment of mob tactics. 



7. It defiles shrubbery, ornamental vines and trees, houses and 

 public buildings, by its excrement; and it builds bulky, disfiguring nests 

 out of unsightly trash. 



8. The Sparrow's voice is always harsh and discordant, and its 

 incessant racket imposes a severe tax upon the nervous energy of the 

 nation. 



9. Its unwelcome presence defiles the more remote woodland sanc- 

 tuaries and mars the serenity of the everlasting hills, no less surely than 

 it does that of the cities and the rural centers. 



It requires no further testimony to show that the presence of this bird 

 is absolutely undesirable. It is a scourge to the agriculturist, a plague to 

 the architect, and the avowed and determined enemy of all other birds. Its 

 nests are not only unsightly but unsanitary, and the maudlin racket of 

 their owners unendurable. The bird is, in short, in the words of the late 

 Dr. Coues, "a nuisance without a redeeming quality." Although we 

 assent to this most heartily, we are obliged to confess on the part of our 

 race to a certain amount of sneaking admiration for the Sparrow. And 

 why, forsooth? Because he fights ! We are forced to admire, at times, his 

 bull-dog courage and tenacity of purpose, as we do the cunning of the 



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Taken in San Fran 



STREET GAMINS 



Photo by the A nthor 



22J 



