SPARROWS 
The English sparrow was introduced into North America and the British 
West Indies in 1851, on the supposition that it would destroy potato bugs, 
as well as various insects harmful to trees. Its sponsor claimed that it was 
successful in this, but very soon its belligerent habits drove away other birds 
which had previously eaten the tree caterpillars. When left alone, the tree 
caterpillars became more destructive than the insects eaten by the sparrows. 
In the horse and buggy era, the sparrows prospered and multiplied 
exceedingly, finding a ready food supply in undigested seeds. “If,” say 
old New Yorkers, “you never saw a bevy of sparrows twittering on the 
cobblestones of Canal Street, you have not lived.” 
In the country, however, they continue to eat corn, vegetables and 
fruit, and generally to victimize the farmer. These pugnacious little birds 
drive other birds away and steal their eggs. In large numbers they assault 
species three or more times their size, particularly robins. Where they are 
fewer in numbers, they drive other birds away by the “psychological” 
method of following them around. The victim soon seems to succumb to a 
persecution complex, imagines himself pursued by the secret police, and 
leaves the neighborhood. English sparrows have been characterized as “dis¬ 
reputable,” “pernicious” and “murderous.” They are in short, public enemy 
number one of the bird world. 
Sparrows fight even among themselves. In the mating season three or 
four males vie for the affections of a female, and it is the most vocal and 
most warlike who wins her. 
The grass and straw nest, lined with feathers, is untidy, filthy and 
often teeming with vermin. Sometimes it is balanced on the limb of a tree, 
and then it is large and dome-shaped with the entrance on one side. When 
it is placed in a hollow tree or a hole in some building, it is much smaller. 
In their search for nest lining, sparrows have been known to snatch hair 
from live dogs. Sparrows often steal from one another. One naturalist tells 
how a female stole a goose feather, much prized by these birds, from a 
next-door neighbor’s nest. Their eggs number four to nine and require two 
weeks for incubation. Two or three broods are raised yearly. 
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