A Good Word For The Sparrow

The little English .parrow wbich hm been otroduced into this and otber cities of the United States, bas roet with. serioua opposition, and protesta from many of our people. The chipper little fellow has been termed a " good-for-nothing," a robber, a fighter, who wouldevcntually drive all our native song biids away, and a writer in this paper last summer asserted tbat he livcd on grain and seeds cntirely, and nevcr 1 i 1 any good by destroying wortns, beetli's, bugf, or incects of any kind. Hm enrn:.pondent said in the Cokrier of July 23, '80 : " On examination of two of these bird.i taken in the suburbs of Ann Arbor, July 6th, 28 kernels of wheat were found in the stomach of one, and 10 in the other. No iosectiveroua food was found in either." Now we like this little bird. He chippers away in cold weather as well as in warm, and it is pleasant to see a fiuck of sparrows, when the earth is locked in winter's embrace and ncarly all of the fcathered inhabitants of the air have deserted ML The Port Austin News man comes to the defense of the sparrow. He says the little fellow is all right, and a friend to man ia being an eneniy to insects. Here is tho article : "The Ann Arbor (JouiUEll propounds the following question to ua: Will the Port Austin New picase give it authority for its assertion in reference to the insect destroying procliviües of the English sparrow ? Yes, sir. A number of years ago, many of the abade trees of Philadelphia, and particularly the linden tree of which there werc large numbers in that city, becarue so infested with the mcasuring worm as tobealmoBt stripped of their foliago the worms dropped on the people as they passed, smearcd tho pavements upon which they wcre tramplcd, and beoame so great a nuisance they could not longer be endurad. No remedy seciued effectual against them, and not a few cut down thcir valued (rees as the only mcans of ridding their premises of the loathsome worms. To fight these, the Kngliüh sparrow was brought over by the authorities of that city. They thrived finely thcre, increasing rapidly, and in a few seasons effectually rid the city of the pests they had been brought over to destroy. From that commencement, they have gradually been spreading over the country, until, as stated in the item which cause the enquiry of the Courier, thry last fall reached this part of Michigan. arc acquainted with the habita of the bird that they are among the farmer's most efficiënt friends and helpera in his fight against insects. Hut as high authority, which will not be disputed, we quote from Chambers' Enciclopedia;, wbere thewriter ia speaking of the English sparrow, and says : ' The sparrow is one of the most omniverous of birds. Animal and veLetabl food seem equally acceptable to it. During summer, vast numbers of insects and their larvae are devoured by sparrows, and in this way they make amends for their plunder of the g rain in the autunin, which they begin assoon as it is sumciently ripeneti and continue as long as there are sheaves in tiie field. Their depredations have induced many farmers to use ineans for their destruction. But the destruction of sparrows may be carried too far; and in France it has been followed by an increase o{ caterpillars.vastly more injurious to crops than sparrows theraselves.' "