INTRODUCTION. 
xlv 
To my mind the popular outcry against the Sparrow is scarcely warranted by the actual state of 
the case. It is only at one particular period of the year, when the farmer’s grain is “ dead ripe ” that 
this biid makes any inroad upon it. In large fields the loss is barely noticeable ; but in the case of 
a small patch of grain, say an acre or two at the edge of the forest or in a bush-clearing, it naturally 
becomes a serious matter, because the Sparrows appear to concentrate their forces on such inviting 
spots, and to leave practically nothing but straw for the reaper. Hence, of course, the outcry and 
clamour on the part of the small farmer. But if people really knew how much the country is 
indebted to this much-abused bird, I venture to think that there would be a still louder outcry 
against the sinful practice, now so general, of poisoning Sparrows. It is a fact that on some farms 
the} aie poisoned in such numbers that the ground is literally strewed with their dead bodies, and 
labourers may be seen filling large baskets with them, and carrying them off in the confident belief 
that a great service is thus rendered to the farming industry of the country. But what are the facts'? 
Is the Sparrow insectivorous, or not, in the strict sense of the term? Let us study it in the breeding- 
season, which extends in New Zealand from September to December or January. Each pair produces 
biood of five young ones. These young birds are fed entirely and exclusively on animal food. 
Every five minutes or so during the long summer day one or other of the parent birds visits the nest 
canymg in its bill a caterpillar or a grub, a beetle, fly or worm, but never a grain of corn or fruit of 
any kind. Now let us consider what this means. Hundreds of thousands of Sparrows, all intent on 
the same business, having young ones at home that must have insect food of some sort ! Every bush, 
eVei y f urr °w, every inch of ground is hunted over and ransacked to supply that imperative demand. 
Millions of insects in all stages of development are daily passed into the insatiable throats of these 
)oung Sparrows. I would ask, what does this imply? How much direct benefit does not this bring 
to the husbandman? The answer is obvious. But look for a moment at the result. In former years 
the Noi th Island, and especially the Auckland province, was periodically visited by a veritable plague 
°f catci pillars. About once in three or four years the caterpillars came in legions and swept all 
befoie them. Ihey would pass over a smiling field of young corn at night and leave scarcely a blade 
foi the dews of morning. Whole districts were devastated in this manner, and the hopes of the 
faimei foi the coming season hopelessly ruined. There was no means of openly meeting an insidious 
enemy of this kind. It was a moving army of atoms, and to attempt to meet and destroy it would 
ha^ e been a mere mockery *. Since the introduction of the Sparrow and other insectivorous birds 
the dreaded plague of caterpillars has disappeared. It has become, indeed, a mere matter of history. 
Ih their imitation at losing a handful of grain, the small farmers appear to be now bent on ruthlessly 
Jirder the sensational heading of “ Trains stopped by Caterpillars,” the following telegram once appeared in the colonial 
papers : — 
“ (touted pkess association.) Wanganui, February 13. 
the trains this morning and evening between Waverley and Nukumaru, on the way to Wanganui, were brought to a stand- 
through countless thousands of caterpillars on the rails. The officials had to sweep and sand the metals before the trains could 
proceed.” 
Another similar case is thus recorded in the ‘ Itangitikei Advocate ’ : — “In the neighbourhood of Turakina an army of 
terpillais, hundreds of thousands strong, was marching across the line, bound for a new field of oats, when the train came 
Q 0n °\ Thousands of the creeping vermin were crushed by the wheels of the engine, and suddenly the train came to a dead stop, 
examination it was found that the wheels of the engine had become so greasy that they kept on revolving without advancing, 
thej could not grip the rails. The guard and the engine-driver procured sand and strewed it on the rails and the train made 
a ficsh st art, but it was found that during the stoppage caterpillars in thousands had crawled all over the engine and over all the 
carriages inside and out.” 
