OWL V. SPARROW.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 693, 18 December 1909, Page 8

OWL V. SPARROW.

!I^,;SntUGQLE:]?bK;EXISTENCE. '.-; juV ToleErnph.-Hucclal CurrcHuoniiont.i : - :■'■'■'■': ■ -.•'. '/■■- -ChristchurchjDece'mborlG. ■;Mr. Edgar P. Stead,'who' was apppinted some tinio'ago by. the Acclimatisation Society 'to confer with the secretary of the/A, and P. Association in regard to the importation of little owls, told the council of tho. Acclimatisation Society that, the birds would certainly at'tnck some.of. the native birds, even- though they : .left, the imported birds ;alone. :. The' speaker pointed out that long after -;the sparrow . and all his kind had gone' to roost, the 'little- fiintail and the ; groy warbler ; might be seen" flitting rotind. the tree-tops in search of insects, ami. they would almost, certainly . fall nn easyprey.to the owlns lie wokeup hungry after his day's sleep. , Then,; .wb.on.7the' owls took to the bush, the greater portion of their bird-food would consist of New Zealand species. As to .whether the owls killed the' sparrows, there, was-considerable >opin for doubt.' They •had. favourable reports from Otago,but those same owls had nevor done much sparrow, exterminating iu their, native land. The owl was rather a solitary .bird, by nature, arid was never' likely to become .very plentiful in any ; districts :As :he . ate; practically ~ : the whole or his victim, he would not-kill many birds per diem. Lastly, as the sparrow's death-rate increased, so would itsrate of reproduction increase'.. It was' reported", from ; Otago that a year after the -liberation of forty owls there wero hardly any sparrows left, liranted that the- 'owls had .increased to 120,"and that they ate on an average four sparrows per', diem, that would, give something like. 200,000; spar-rows,:-which: would' only make.two; fair-sized (locks.'.on a stubble, field!.: Perhaps they'were , scarcd-to districts where there were; no, owls, •but .when ho. met owls everywhere the sparrowwbuld simply settle down and,make..the best of it. But supposing the sparrow was destroyed, as rapidly and .as surely, as. the. owl's most ardent advocates said/ he would be, with most of'.the native birds extremely scarce, and tho • imported ' birds would bo eaten. AVhat about, the caterpillars? The speaker; was of opinion that .the' sparrows in.-New.. Zealand were ;not'so .numerous as they, were a ; few years .ago, though from what cause lie could not say.-: He was inclined to, put it down to the poisoning and. the destruction of eggs. He did-not 'regard , that as of much value, as the bird immediately laid!another'clutch. He re.garded one adult bird' as worth; a dozen or more- eggs.'The ' Canterbury ;A, and P. .Association, -it appeared, had not actually imported, the :owls.'■; They were; out jiy Messrs. 'Macfariane,. ;! of Amur), through the association.: Since they were liberated; nothing bad been beard of them. ; Hβ understood Jhat tho association was' not gojng ..to -get- out any more/ The ■■■ sparrows raised two. or , three broods in' a season, .with two youngsters m a brood: If they,were systematically destroyed, however,'. the' -.sumvors . laid ■ more ■ eggs, and laid them oftener. Mr. Stead was thanked for the information/ and reqnested-'to continue his 'researches.'••■■■-':.!.'"-.',-'.'. ■ .■■'■ '....'. ; -■..:; .;';