1875 . 
171 
SPAKROWS. 
Mr. Ruthven Deane emeis the list on the anti-sparrow 
side. He sti,!;matizes this bird as tjTannical, and men- 
tions an instance where one attacked a chippin*; sparrow, 
another where the sparrows molested a pair of blue- 
birds, and a third where they made demonstrations 
against some pine fioches. All this in Boston and on 
Boston common. This, Mk. Kod akd Gun, is “carry- 
ing the war into Africa,” and it behooves me not to let 
it pass in silence, although, as you are aware that, as I 
have not the leisure to do justice to the subject, t have 
not contributed, so far as your journal is concerned, to 
the sparrow controversy, in spite of repeated challenges 
to do so. But to Mr. Deane’s communication I have a 
few words to say. lie begins by the admission that his 
prepossessions liave never been favorable to the spar- 
row; I trust tliat when he shall liave become better ac- 
quainted with their true character his prejudice may be 
removed and that he may yet live to think better of 
them. 
They are tyrannical! That means, I suppose, they 
resent intrusions into what they suppose to be their pri- 
vate grounds. They regard as squatters and interlopers 
all strangers who come upon their manor. So does the 
robin, so does the bluebird, so does the white-bellied 
swallow, so does the wren, so do nearly all our more 
common birds, our own sparrows, perhaps, excepted. 
The sparrow is not so tyrannical or meddlesome as the 
birds I have named. Let Mr. Deane not confine his 
anathema to the “.stranger within our gates,” but ar- 
raign our own birds as equally worthy of the opprobri- 
um. In justice to the sparrow, 1 feel hound to say that 
my experiences are totally at variance with those of Mr. 
Deane. I live on the edge of the public gardens. My 
business calls me to cross ths.garden and the Common, 
from end to end four times every day; I have for five 
years thus enjoyed the opportunity of seeing a good deal 
of the intercourse between the sparrows and other 
birds. I have never witnessed, in all my experience 
any molestation by a house sparrow, if any other spe- 
cies! The intercourse between the chipping sparrow 
and the house sparrow has alwaj's seemed to be espec- 
ially friendly. They feed together in the same flock, 
the company of the latter is sought by the former,- and 
I have repeatedly seen, when I liave been feeding the 
sparrows, a little chippy run up to its bigger associate 
and deliberate’y pick up the same piece of bread, and I 
have also often seen the big house sparrow surrender it 
and go to another piece. Evidentl)' Mr. Deane’s in- 
stance is a very exceptional one, and I very much doubt 
if he will ever have an opportunit}' to record another. 
It is totally contrary to my very large experience, and is 
especially exceptional. 
Now as to the bluebirds, they certainly are the ag- 
gressors here in Boston, and also in the neighborhood. 
You have copied from the Naturalint the instance I re- 
corded where Hon, .1. II. Poor, of Somervilie, introduced 
the sparrows into his grounds." They had become recon- 
ciled to their new quarters, had constructed their nests 
and were hatching out their young in boxes put up for 
their use, when a swarm of bluebirds drove them away, 
and possessed themselves of their boxes. Only yester- 
day (May 27) Austin Sumner, Esq., who resides at Xo. 
8-5 Boylston stieet, informed me that a pair of sparrows 
who had enjoyed peaceful possession of a bo.x, in the 
gardens opposite his door, were attacked by a pair of 
bluebirds and-driven out of their house, the bluebirds 
retaining posses.sion. I do not believe in holding birds 
to any moral accountability for their misconduct when 
acting under their natural instincts. But Mr. Deane 
apparently does, and blames the sparrows for not know- 
ing that pine finches had as a good a right to Boston 
common as they have. If this is tyrannous, what 
does Mr. Deane think of the spiolations and outrages on 
the part of the bluebirds? He may search the annals 
of the House Sparrow in vain for anything half so 
atrocious. A hundred to one the bluebirds he speaks 
of as having been thus wronged, had been guilty of just 
such wrong-doings, and had been taking or attempting 
to take violent possession of the houses of the homes of 
the native American House Sparrows, who were really 
fighting pro nciK ct fods. 
At No. 181 BoyLston street, a kinswoman of mine, 
some five years ago, put up two boxes for the use of 
the House Sparrows. But a pair of White-bellied Swal- 
lows have driven out the sparrows, and while the pair 
can only make use of one, they hold both boxes, and 
will not permit their rightful owners, the sparrows, 
'om April to October, to hold either. Will Mr. Deane 
please lell us whether the Ilirundo tricolor h as a moral 
right thus to behave without caliing forth his riirhteous 
indignution on being denounced as a tyrant and robber? 
Fiatjuntitia mat cmlum. The sparrows have been in- 
troduced into Boston; ttiej' did not introduce them- 
selves. They have been cossetted and petted, and to a 
great extent injured, for beneficial purposes, by being 
thus over fed, for they do not do us half the good they 
would if they were not so stuffed with crumbs; but 
molest our native birds as a general rule, they do not. 
We have more chirping sparrows in Boston, five to 
one, than we had five years ago. We have more roh- 
bins, more bluebirds, more swallows, more birds 
generally. 
One more question, Mr. Rou axd Gun, and I am 
done Will Mr. Deane or some other of the anti-sparrow 
gentry, who are so swift in rushing to sweeping con- 
clusions on isolated facts, tell me if the sparrows are so 
tyrannous and oppressive to other species? Why is it 
that all European writers, English, Swedish, French, 
German and Italian, have never found it out, and are 
silent, in their several histories of the House Sparrow, 
in regard to this peculiarity, while it has been left to a 
few American observers to find out? T. M. Brewer. 
A (OLLECTOR’S RAMBLES. 
BY F. STEPHENS. 
March IGtIi I again tried climbing the range; this 
time with better success than before. The snow had 
melted some, and the wind had blown away more, so 
that in places the ground was bare. In some places the 
drifts were several feet eleep. The timber had been 
burned in patches, so that the snow would be either 
gone or crusted enough to bear us. In the green tim- 
ber it was deep, and not crusted; there our work lay, 
and Will and 1 would take turn about in breaking road 
in such places. One alone would never have got to the 
summit. The day was warm, and the snow melting, so 
we were soon thoroughly wet to the waist. AYe fol- 
lowed a ridge, as the snow was blown more from it. 
AYe got to the timber line about two o’clock. There the 
timber was mostly a dwarf pine, and blown nearly flat 
by the unceasing high winds. Above that the moun- 
tain was so steep that the snow had been unable to 
stick, except in the gullies and ravines, which were 
blown full. Al'hough the sun was shining bright!}', 
and the snow melting rapidly further down, here our 
clothing froze hard. The exertion of climbing kept us 
warm, so that otherwise we felt no inconvenience. The 
summit was probably not more than a thousand feet 
above timber line, but it took us a long while to over- 
come that distance, for every few steps we had to stop 
and take breath and rest a little. At last we reached 
the summit. Looking at my watch I found it was four 
o’c'oek. AYe had been seven hours getting up. 
The view from the summit paid us for all our work. 
Alountain chains bounded the horizon on all sides but 
one. To the eastward we could see out on the plains; 
north. Pike’s Peak towered above all others. To the 
north. west extended the range on which we stood (the 
Sangre de Cristo); west, were the Saguache and San 
.Tuan Alountains; south, the Sierra Blanca rose to about 
the same hight as Pike’s in the north. To the west we 
caught glimpses of the San Luis Valley, but a peak near 
by obstructed the. view. East, in the distance, lay the 
Huerfano Park. It appeared to be well timbered. At 
our feet almost, lay AVet .Mountain Valley. It was en- 
tirely devoid of timber except a few willows along the 
creeks. As it was getting late we started back, having 
accomplished only part of our object. I found no 
Ptarmigan. The late storm had evidently driven them 
away for we could sec abundant signs of their having 
been there two or three weeks before; but on the fresher 
snow we found no tracks or other sign. They evidently 
kept above timber line most of the winter. About tim- 
ber line I saw two Clarke’s Crows (Pidconus columhi- 
anm). A small flock of Finches, iirobably Gray-crowned 
[ Leucoaticte tephrocotin), and a large flock of Pine Lin- 
nets {Chri/soinitris piniui.) Also a hawk was soaring high 
above. Getting down quicker, but harder work than 
coming up, we reached camp about half-past nine, thor- 
oughly tired, as you can imagine. 
From AVet Mountain Valley we went to the Huerfano 
Park. There I got quite a number of Blue Crows (Gi/mr 
nokitta ryanocepluilm). 1 use the nomenclature of Dr. 
Coues’ Key; also got several Crossbills and Clarke’s 
Crows in the same place. From there we went west 
across the Sangre de Cristo range via. the Mosca Pass; 
had a hard time crossing as the snow was bad. AYe had 
t unload partly and pack to the summ't. Going down 
<n the west side was quicier, as it is quite steep. At 
the foot of the Pass, on the right of the road, are the 
largest sand hills I ever saw. The road from the Pass 
to the San Luis Lakes is very sandy. These lakes are 
alkaline, have no outlet, and the streams from the 
mountains disappear before reaching them. There is 
no wood near the lakes, and the grass is poor, so that 
camping by them is hardly pleasant, especially if the 
sand blows much, like it did when we W'ere there. The 
largest lake is several miles long. Around it are sev- 
eral smaller ones, and plenty of ponds and marshes. 
As it is the largest body of water in the territory, it is 
of course well patronized by the water fowl. I was too 
early in the season, though, to get the full benefit of it. 
I found no waders; Canada Geese were fairly plenty, 
but very wild. Snow Gtase (Aiuser hyperloreajs), were 
very plenty. Ducks fairly swarmed, but were so poor 
as to be unfit to eat. Brant were very scarce; Gulls 
occasional. Saw two Jack Snipe and a few' Killdeer, 
and one Bittern. Coots (F'uficrt a7nericaiia), were very 
abundant. Of ducks I got only eight .species; of these 
the Ga,dv;e\\ (Chaulelasmus streperus), numbered as many 
as all the rest. AYe staid only a week, as our provisions 
gave out. and we could get none nearer than Port Gar- 
land; so we drove there and staid a couple days. AYhile 
there I saw a flock of Blue Crows several times along 
the creek, in the cotton-wood timber, and secured a 
oouple. That is the only time I have seen them out of 
the pine and similar timber. The officers at the post 
were very kind.. 
AATe now turned south w'ard, and are now' camped near 
Culebra. Y'esterday I got a Bui rowing Owl {Sj.eoty- 
tov&T: hypoyica), and two Bull Finches. AYe shall push 
on into Arizona as fast as possible, where I hope to get 
agood variety of specimens. The grass is starting some, 
which our stock are well pleased with, as they have had 
hard fare so far. The season is late, as it always is here. 
Dr. Goldsmith writes us as follows in reference to 
“Plunket.” This magnificent dog is now' at sea and 
his arrival is expected daily. AA'e have had many 
enquiries about him, and full notice will be given of 
his whereabouts and all other matters in due season. 
He will probably be located in A’ermont: 
“You are good enough to attribute the purchase of 
“ Plunket” to American pluck and liberality (I believe 
these are the words or something like it.) Now the 
truth is there was neither pluck or liberality on my 
part to speak of. AYhile I was in Birmingham, Air. 
Small of the Land and Water, introduced me to Mr- 
Lewellyn, who was kind enough to invite me to 
AVellesly Hall. I saw “Plunket” there. AYhen I came 
over to the Continent, without having been able, while 
in England, to secure to my satisfaction, a pair of w'cll- 
bred Red-Irish Setters, to take home with me, I wrote 
to Mr. L., telling him that I wauled a pair of such dogs 
to take to America to raise some stock from, for my 
owu and my friends.use, and asking him if he would 
trouble himself to let me know where I could find such 
a pair. He answeied me by saying that he would let 
me have “ Plunket” and “ Carrie,” and naming a very 
moderate price for them. I at once, and very gladly 
closed with the offer, for it was just what I wanted in 
every way. I felt that 1 was doubly fortunate — fortu- 
nate not merely in getting the “King” Red-lrish Setter, 
though not the “King dog of England,” but also in get- 
ting it from a gentleman of wealth and education, 
whose character and social position were unexception- 
able — who was not a dealer, but who bred his setters 
for his own use and amusement, and who was withal, 
the most celebrated breeder in England. I had the am- 
plest possible guarantee for the genuiness of the pedi- 
gree of the dogs I purchased. If I had given anything 
like what he had been offered (^1,000) for “ Plunket,” 
or even what he had paid for the dog, it might have 
passed for pluck on my part. I do not suppose that 
Mr. L. would have let me have “Plunket” at all 
except for the uses I intended him for. “Plunket” is 
past his prime, and is fit now only for the stud, and not 
long for that, but long enough I hope, for him, to make 
his mark in America a.s in England. Even now, I do 
not suppose that Mr. L. would have parted with the 
dog, if it were not that he regards the South Esk and 
Laverack cross — his Field-trial breed — a better race of 
Setters — an opinion in which I think it likely most 
Englishmen coincide. 
Spirit Lake, Iowa, is spoken of as a place growing rapidly in 
favor as a resort of fishers and lowlcrs. The capabilities of the 
place are very great. 
