214 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN 



for I do not learn that it is witnessed at 

 other times. There is some decimation of 

 the House Sparrows in the Garden in this 

 way. 



Noisy and pugnacious as they crowd to- 

 gether, yet these sparrows have appeared 

 usually to give the small migrant birds 

 little annoyance. Occasionally I have noted 

 a marked exception to this statement, when, 

 it may be, a warbler, provoking animosity 

 by the challenge of its song, has been 

 fiercely chased about for a time by an angry 

 sparrow and sometimes has flown out of 

 the Garden. Such a pursuit is more likely to 

 happen upon a day when there are but few 

 migrants present, or in the earlier part of 

 the season, and it seldom occurs. Later in 

 the season the House Sparrows seem to be- 

 come wonted to the presence of the migrant 

 birds and more willing to share the grounds 

 with them. 



In the early morning hours I have found 

 them less noisy and less in evidence to sight 

 than in the forenoon, when they are gath- 

 ered in larger numbers from the neigh- 



