SPARE THE SPARROW.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VII, Issue 302, 19 December 1872, Page 5

SPARE THE SPARROW.

{From the Daily Telegraph"). The nightingale, the lark, the cuckoo, bave^ had innumerable lyrists ; but we cannot readily remember anybody since Catullus who has condescended to pay a poetical compliment to the sparrow. That knowing little bird— that ornithological Cockney, so clever, vulgar, cheerful and plucky — has, nevertheless, a mission. He is a pioneer of progress, an agent of civilisation, and- an enemy to worms. We have already mentioned his importation into New York, where the^citizens were Buffering from the ravages of the horrible vermin known as the inch-worm, the measure-worm, the canker-worm, the leaf- • worm, or the six-leggod hunchback. The robin would not eat> this creature, the blue-bird left him alone with his absence of glory; till at last the sparrow was called for, and the sparrow came. The little Cockney, of course, secured favorable terms, including an ample dietary and a free passage ; but it was expected that, in .return, he would at once take up his abode in Central Park and commence his cure for worms. And so, after a time, he did, but first of all rightly considering that Malthusianism does not apply to a new country like the United States, he devoted himself with much energy and considerable success to the multiplication of his own species. Having become numerous he took to eating the , measure- worm, and his Services have been gratefully recognised jby the erection of "bird-houses" in (Union-square. The winter cold is someiwbat too severe for the strangers; but with la comfortable little house above their little jheads and a daily supply of food they fare tolerably well after all. Inside the boxes nests are constructed of hair, cotton, [feathers, and grass, with twigs or straw ji'or the foundation ; during the colder | months the \park-keeper feeds the birds f with cracked rice, and in the summer they (may be seen daily taking their dips from | little bits of plank placed iii the basin of j the fountain. J The horrible worm is rapidly disappearing before them, fend as the New York Times declares: — "The astounding fact that they alone, of all public servants of this city, have fulfilled their contract, makes their history- not only interesting but unique." Does not the thoughtful kindness with which the usefulji t tie birds are treated by the Americans contrast rather strongly with the stupid barbarity of our 'own " Sparrow' Clubs'* and the reckless slaughter of small birds in France.