The Meaning of EvolutionSchmucker, Samuel Christian
History
The Meaning of Evolution
Schmucker, Samuel Christian
Evolution
Man is only slowly coming to be a city-dwelling animal. Although it is
a voluntary process with him, he still usually visits the country with
much enjoyment. He has not as yet learned to adapt himself thoroughly
to the city, for somehow city life kills him. Families that move into
the city gradually have a smaller number of children in each
generation until shortly the family is wiped out. The population of
the city must constantly be replenished from the country. But the
English sparrow is more adaptable than are the people. He has made
himself at home in the heart of the biggest city. The Wall Street
canyon is not deep enough, nor contracted enough, nor free enough of
food to blot out the life of the English sparrow. At the heart of the
deepest gully among the skyscrapers of our biggest cities we find this
little bird hopping between the horses' feet, darting out from under
the wheel of the push-cart, fluttering only a few yards to a place of
safety, to return at once to his scanty meal upon the pavement as soon
as opportunity offers. He is a typical city dweller and has learned to
thrive there. Again in this matter he has distanced other birds to
whom the city is more deadly than it is to people.
Another very important element in his fitness for the struggle of
life lies in the fact that he is unafraid of man. He is wary of man;
by which I mean he will quickly fly up from in front of man's feet. It
is exceedingly difficult to catch a sparrow in one's hand. It is far
easier to lure a pigeon within reach. But the sparrow, when escaping
your hands, comes to rest but a slight distance away, only to elude
you quite as successfully if you try again. If the sparrow is let
severely alone he becomes more and more familiar with men, flies less
promptly, and goes a shorter distance, but any attempt to trap him
renders him shy more quickly than almost any other bird we have. He
soon learns to avoid a trap in which his companions have come to
grief. Those who would poison or trap sparrows must change constantly
the base of their operations. This fearlessness of man is a valuable
asset to the bird, for it is an important defense against other foes.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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