Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 160, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 July 1910 — CRUELTY OF THE SPARROWS [ARTICLE]

CRUELTY OF THE SPARROWS

fthown in a Raid Upon the Neat of Robins. **l have always had a kind word for the English sparrow.” said a suburbanite, but I have had to change my mind. I’m afraid I did not know the English sparrow after all. An old fashioned grape vine clambers over the lattice work of a back porch that a window at which I sit a great deal looks out upon. The porch is not more than eight feet wide, and so I was surprised this spring to see a pair of robins preempt a nook among the branches of the grape vine and make preparations for building their nest there, almost within reach of where I sat.

“I sat there every day and watched the progress of that nest building, from the wonderful weaving of the outer walls with straws and sticks and bits of string, the fashioning of them into the strong and symmetrical rim or the cuplike interior to the lining of this softer and warmer material. "From the beginning of the neat building by the robins I noticed that groups of sparrows watched the progress of the work, twittering all the time cheerily and evidently greatly interested in the proceedings, but not once exhibiting any hostility toward the robins, which I had always been told were especially attacked by the pugnacious -sparrows and persistently driven away by them. This conduct of the sparrows pleased me. Instead of pitching into the robins and driving them away,’ said I, ‘the sparrows are actually cheering them on and encouraging them. How easy it is to give a thing a bad name!' “The robins at last finished their nest, and the female began her laying. The time came when the female robin remaining on the nest showed that her eggs were all in the nest and she had begun their incubation. “Then the utter wickedness of sparrows was revealed to me. This was the time they had been waiting for. “Nothing could be plainer, for poor Mrs. Robin had settled herself on her eggs but a very short time when, as if by prearrangement, sparrows came pouncing down upon her from every direction, their cheerfuj chirping changed to vicious shrieks. The robin, taken by surprise by this fierce and sudden assault, made a desperate effort to defend herself and her home aided by her mate, who came hurriedly to the spot from his berth in an adjacent apple tree.

“Very soon the two birds were routed by the overpowering number of sparrows and were chased away‘by them. The robins alighted in a tree on the edge of the garden and made frequent and frantic essays at returning to the vine as with the hope oi recapturing their home, but were each time met by a horde of sparrows and driven back.

“Meantime another set of the vicious little marauders were busy at dismantling the robins’ nest. They tumbled the pretty eggs out of the nest and smashed them on the porch floor, and then picked and tore at the nest until they had a big hole through the bottom of it and its sides were broken and ragged. The work of ruin complete, the sparrows seemed to exult over their dastardly work. With the departure of the sparrows from the vine the robins ventured back to the scene and not a sparrow interfered with their return. Tlh» grief of the robins was pitiful to see, and after fluttering about their ruined home a while and inspecting it while the sparrows watched them from all sides, chattering like so many little fiends In enjoyment of the discomfiture of the robins, the Qespoiled pair flew to the apple tree, sat there a few moments in silent and mournful contemplation of the wreck of their home and hopes and then flew away and came back no more. “That the sparrows had daily watched that pair of robins patiently build their nest and waited until tjie eggs had been deposited In the nest, twittering and chirping cheerily uad encouragingly at them as the work progressed, so that the work of destruction they were intending in their wicked little hearts might be the more overwhelming and complete, I had no more doubt than that the nest was built.

“It was a case of premeditated vandalism of the most heartless kind and not only changed my opinion of the English sparrow but changed it so thoroughly that I am scattering lead among them now with a shotgun Instead of crumbs with m y hand.”— New York Sun.