THE COMMON SPARROW

Evening Star, Issue 23377, 21 September 1939, Page 18

THE COMMON SPARROW

GREAT SERVICE TO DOMINION >' CHECK ON INSECT INCREASE The decision of one of the Canterbury county councils to pay 3d a dozen for eggs of small birds which were alleged to bo injurious to crops*.wns discussed at a recent meeting of the executive of the Forest and Bird Protection Society. It was mentioned that there was division of opinion among Canterbury farmers, many of whom believed firmly that the birds in question did much more harm than good.

Mr B. C. Aston declared emphatically that in the North Island the sparrow was ' unquestionably a beneficial bird.

The great service of the sparrow to New Zealand is well set out in ‘ The Animals of New Zealand ’ (tlie standard work of F. W. Hutton and James Drummond).

“ The cultivation of cabbages, cauliflowers, turnips, and other succulent plants was followed by an alarming increase in the numbers of native insects,” they state. “ Armies of caterpillars invaded the fields and consumed tho crops. It was hardly possible to open a pea pod without finding a caterpillar inside; and, in the Auckland district, dismayed settlers saw fields of maize under bare poles, not a leaf remaining. Tho food supply of the insects had been increased enormously, and they were not slow to respond. “ It was decided that the best plan to adopt, to make agriculture and horticulture possible, was to introduce inspect-eating birds. But it was recognised that these birds must not live on insects alone. There is no winter retreat for insect-eaters in New Zealand, as there is in Europe; and if they could not sustain themselves on vegetable food in the winter months, when the insects were absent, they'would perish. Tho field of selection was therefore restricted to birds which would eat both seeds and insects, which would not try to migrate, and which would become common. One of the first to bo introduced was the sparrow. “ The sparrow certainly checked the increase of the insects. Without the sparrow, or some other bird equally common, the Dominion would be overrun with the insects again, and life would be insupportable. No exception is taken to the means of destruction now adopted, as they merely lessen the numbers of the sparrows. But it cannot he admitted that the introduction of this bird was one of the mistakes in acclimatisation. Those who urge that tho sparrow ought to he banished should name a substitute.”

The persons who wage war on the sparrow have not apparently given a thought to a substitute. It is contended that unless a satisfacory substitute is found the persecutors will be pleased to become friends rather than enemies of a bird which takes tremendous toll of destructive insects.