The Humble House Sparrow and something to make us think.

For the past few weeks been reading all my birding etc logs and found them interesting reading as always. 

One same size book had somehow got mixed in with them, it was my family history research one, and on the last page was a mention about the House Sparrow.  One newspaper I used for research at our local reference library twenty years ago was the Lindsey & Lincs Star dated May 4th 1901, I always enjoy reading any newspapers be them old or new. In my book I took an extract from the Star because it shocked me, it read as follows " a sparrow club in Doddington, Newham & Eastling (Kent) Club existed to exterminate the poor little thing, 7,387 sparrows were killed by members. Sparrows were a pest to East kent farmers to their fruit and crops. During eight years existence of the club 49,330 sparrows had been accounted for by members".

I always knew that wee birds were killed abroad in great number but not in my own country! Thank god we don't do it now!

John