ii6 Birds Every Child Should Know 
Sparrows were first imported into Brooklyn 
in 1851 to rid the shade trees of inch worms. 
This feat they accomplished there and in New 
York with neatness and despatch. Every one 
fed, petted, and coddled them then. It was 
not until many years later that their true char- 
acter came to be thoroughly understood. Then 
it was found by scientific men in Washington, 
after the fairest trial any culprits ever received, 
that not all the insects and weed seeds they 
destroy compensate for the damage they do 
in the farmer’s grain fields, to say nothing of 
their harrassing and dispossessing other birds 
more desirable. But they kill no birds, so we 
may hope that, in the course of time, our native 
songsters may pluck up courage to claim their 
rights and hold their own, learning from the 
sparrows the important lesson of adaptability. 
CHIPPING SPARROW 
Called also: Chippy; Door -step Sparrow; Hair 
Sparrow. 
This summer a pair of the sociable, friendly 
little chippies — the smallest members of their 
clan^ — decided that they would build in a little 
boxwood tree on the verandah of our house next 
to the front door through which members of 
the family passed every hour of the day. While 
