The English Sparrow.

Ycmr correspondent, in discussing the Engliah sparröw questiom in Saturday's issue, shows himself so obviowsly tncapable of giving the habits of this bird that bis colunm artiele needa a few words of atteution. The English sparrow, as famlllarly tormed, is getting more or less ..-iv:lizi'd and changed in habits from wh.it it was during Ets earlier arrival. That acts of the legislatüre wciv passed to extermínate the bird, and bounties ofCered for lts sc-n lj, show conclusively that the English sparrow's linbits were rcgarded with grave apprehension. In the earlier öays of lts arrival ín this country lts habits were so vicious and devastating that all but the sleepy seatimenfcalist feit a repugnance towards it. The writer lias seen and kuown people who went out with hotfcv.tí killing and searrag thé sparrow y from field and garden. The rp; gram on the vine, the shoeks of it in the field, the com ripening on the stalk were all centers' of its attack. It had brought with it als pugnaoous habits. Other birds were driven nway and their iiests ravished of their To this I have been aii eye witness. Siich tralbits of the bird naturaüy producéd a dislike for it. Within cecent years, however, the English spaiTow's Iiabits have changed. It bas ■ ■ ■ ■ á seavenger, a worni-eatcr in fiim with sonie of iis old hatrts srii: retained. Humaneiy eonsideied, v.c do n.it like to sec the ]".! killed or esterminated if it eau do us any .good. While the bounty remains. and the law sta u, is on our statute booiis, is r!n legal right and duty of erery Citizen to kill or externiinate the sparvoiv. sa-me as the crow, the wood(!nu-k. the fox and other pests for which bounties were and are still offered in nvany states. 'l'iiis brings us to the modo of killing or extermina ting these pests. Tree. the safest is the 'best. Is it shooting, climbing after them or throwing stones? Are you aware that in a city like Detroit, "where men are full ccf wisdom and top-notch regulatic.ns abound." tbey issued permits to shO'Ot the sparrow? On the next Ju nji carne a howl. and tlion arrest, fine and ircprisoament of persons who shot. the srarrow. You will agree with me that sivh doings are wrong. We do :iot advocate shooting or the use of any unsal'e method to dispose of the spart rw, 'but we do say that the method cpndaomed by the Times porrespoade:it is the safest. surest cand quickest of any that has been tried. "Death by poison, yonr correspondent says, ' rspeeially aTsenic, which is universally used, is one of the most painfal, lin.uering deaths imaginaible. " No :: rsenic is ever used, nnless by au igiiorant bird-slayer. I venture to say +hat ijo "lingering death" occurs fro-m the proper poisoning of sparrows if you may so cali it. No grain is ■■ tored in the eveuing which the birds eat then" and "fall out of the traes next moraing at 10." Sueh perversión of facts. The soaked grain is often iïrown by the sparraw catcher on the ground at night, but more generally early in the morning lust -where the sparrow roosts. Soon they aliglit in the morning, ea1 t!ie soaked grain, and in less time '.lian yon can coimt 50 they are back on the tree and simultan-eousJy drop li':ll!. Is there a simpler and more hai'mless method? But cruel or orherwise, as long as the lawr exists to kill, and a bounty given, you camiot denouace it "cruel or inhuman." Then no other bird eats the stuff that the sparrow does, henee no other bird.s are poisOüed. The statement that in [oiso;iing the span-o w other birds are poisoned is absolutely untrue - it cannot be proven. As to squirrels, cats and dogs I am susiiicious of the story. Bring the proof '.and nat gnesswork. Who believes that a dog will eat a dead sparrow? There is so mueh else of this kind stated in the Times correspoiident's artiele that one cannot follow to correct it. In conclusión he suggests: "How much better it would have been if the state had paid thi. amount, $01,800 bounty tax. towards good roads." Good roads are a des i ra blo thing. So is money for whoéver needs it to buy bread with. So are laws for pratection of our rights and property. So is the enfoTcemeut of pToper laws. The drinker and siroker might do wiiiiout drinking and smoking and convert all that vast amount of expense into good roads. What au opportunity for rejoicing to man and animal.