Show the english sparrow that our worthy doctors are wag t little english sparrow ing war a 0 ainest deserves a eats many insects few word of defense the sparrow as the writer understands A Q BUCHANAN by mago chicago der stands was introduced into this country some fifty 3 ears ago to destroy the inch worms that had become such a pest these worms hung in thousands hy by invisible webs from the shade trees in the parks and ad residential streets of our eastern cities at the time the sparrow was brought over many claimed they were grain eaters and destructive to gardens and that they would not eat or destroy worms or insects if they could get their taci natural food the following facts tile the writer thinks will refute the above belief one morning a short time since while he was passing along the busiest part of dearborn street a sparrow almost flew into the writers face so ea eager er was the little bird in pursuit of his prey that it had lost all a 11 fear ol of humanity stopping to watch the excited sparrow I 1 saw that it was after a moth miller so tiny that it was almost invisible in its rapid flight to escape back and forward across the sidewalk bird and miller flew out into the street down into the gutter over hundreds of grains of oats that had been dropped in the street byice by the feeding a teams yet the oats the supposed natural food of tile the sparrow were completely overlooked by the bird its appetite whetted to frenzy by the sight td of the household pest the moth miller lt it was willing 0 to work and work hard bard for this flying morsel despite the easy breakfast lying on the street at its feet look on any lawn and you will see sec the sparrow side by side with the robin redbreast hunting not for grain but for the destructive and insect and then too what has become of the old post pest the inch worm |