secketary's budget. 331 



and evening air with their melodious song. Within four years after 

 the introduction of English sparrows they had found their way to our 

 home, and immediately began harassing the blue birds, sometimes de- 

 stroying their nests. As soon as we noticed this we took the part of 

 our pets and fought the sparrows at every point. This was soon no- 

 ticed by the blue birds; and it, actuUly happened that when hard 

 pressed by the sparrows they would fly close to the house to attract 

 our attention to their trouble by plaintive cries. AVe succeeded in 

 protecting them for a few years ; but with the rapid increase of the 

 sparrows, the blue birds have left their former abodes never to return 

 to them except as travelers. 



tragedies in bird life. 



When we noticed that the wrens were harassed in a similar man- 

 ner, we made the entrance holes to the boxes so small that the spar- 

 rows could no longer enter. We then found that the wily sparrows 

 would take turns sitting on the perch in front of the opening until the 

 old wrens had left, or until the young ones had starved. In two cases 

 we found that the old wrens had been kept imprisoned until starved to 

 death. We tried to drive the sparrows off — shot them with guns, 

 caught them in traps, destroyed their nests, etc., etc., but all in vain. 

 The best way to drive them away seems to be to destroy their nests 

 without tiring ; then they will partly leave. They would fight the 

 brown thrush and scatter its eggs whenever opportunity presented 

 itself, and seemed to take particular delight in pulling their nests to 

 pieces to build their own with the debris. 



FRUIT DESlRuYING HABITS. 



Mr. Henning adds: In spring they destroy the strawberries to be- 

 gin with, and attack every variety of fruit except currants, gooseber- 

 ries and apples. They do not feed on cherries to make their living like 

 native birds, but merely take a bite of each berry, and destroy it wont- 

 only. AVhen pears are ripe they will peck large holes in them to drink 

 the juice. They generally appropriate half of our vineyard, and can- 

 not be frightened by "scarecrows." They invariably keep themselves 

 busy when not hungry, by picking off young sprouts, especially of tine 

 plants and rose bushes, though they do not spare trees. In addition to 

 the above they do not destroy worms which build a web, though they 

 probably destroy chrysalids or open cocoons in winter time when they 

 can find no other food. We have never seen them destroy worms in 

 summer time when grain, seeds and other food are plenty. 



