Teachers' Leaflet. 



497 



stay nights ? Do they Hve in peace and amity with each other or are 

 they quarrelsome ? Do they feed upon the seeds of weeds in winter ? 



LESSON LVIL 



NESTING HABITS. 



Purpose. — To call the notice of the pupils to the nests and to the 

 kind of food given to the young. 



Compare the nests of the English sparrow to that of the robin, the 

 chippy, the song sparrow or the ground sparrow. Note how slovenly it 

 is built compared with the homes of the other sparrows. Note the color 

 of the eggs and the number in the nest. Note that when the nestlings 

 hatch they are fed largely upon insects. Note how long after hatching 

 before the young sparrows leave the nest, and how long they are fed by 

 the old ones after they leave the nest. Note how many broods there are 

 in a season. 



LESSON LVIIL 



HISTORY AND ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF THE ENGLISH SPARROW. 



Purpose. — To make the pupils observe for themselves how the 

 sparrows drive out our native birds and also that their food is largely of 

 grain around barns, and 

 that they do not destroy 

 weed seeds. 



After the pupils have 

 made observations of 

 their own along these 

 lines, the teacher may 

 find in the following 

 books and bulletins, 

 facts which will teach 

 further the economic 

 importance of this bird : 

 " Birds in Their Rela- 

 tion to Man," by Weed 

 and Dearborn, p. 144. 

 The following bulletins 

 of the U. S. Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture : 

 " English Sparrow in 

 North America ; " " Re- 

 lation of Sparrows to 

 Agriculture," S. D. 



32 



Photo, by Venu; Murton. 



Comparejtliis neat )iest of tJic field sparroiv ivith the 

 slovenly nest of the English sparrow. 



