11 



From the very interestiug and most important " little work on the 

 sparrow controversy " entitled ' The House Sparrow,' full of detail and 

 careful observation, written by Mr. J. H. Gurney, Jun., Col. 0. Kussell, 

 and Dr. B. Cones, I (although no friend of the sparrow), think that the 

 observations of Mr. J. H. Gurney (p. 8) are worthy of great con- 

 sideration. He says — " If one-fourth of the young sparrows hatched 

 in England are fed for ten days on 14 caterpillars apiece, it is easy to make 

 a calculation of how many they would eat in a large agricultural county 

 like Norfolk. Norfolk contains 800 parishes : say that 800 young 

 sparrows are annually hatched in each parish ; that gives us a total of 

 640,000 sparrows. If one-fourth of them are fed on caterpillars, we should 

 have 22,400,000 of these destructive creatures eaten in this one county 

 alone, every year, by sparrows. So that there is a very nice balance to 

 adjust in a matter which the most expert observer might find difficult. On 

 the one hand the young sparrows are fed on a great many caterpillars ; on 

 the other hand they are fed with grain, but tliis is mixed with weeds and 

 other vegetable matter. Again, there is a sidelight in which to look at 

 the question : — If the sparrows were dead, how many of these caterpillars 

 would be eaten by other small birds ? We may be quite sure that a con- 

 siderable portion of them would not be eaten, unless chaffinches and green- 

 finches become more numerous than they are now ; and if this was so, 

 would not they speedily become much more addicted to corn ? I think 

 there is not a doubt about it." 



Mr. H. Seebohm in his British Birds' Eggs (p. 63) tells us that " In the 

 hot months of the year the house sparrow is excessively fond of dusting 

 itself, hke the domestic fowl ; and sometimes as many as half a dozen may 

 be seen enjoying this luxury in company. In Derbyshire, where the roads 

 are mostly limestone, sparrows are not uufrequently seen to fly from 

 them with their plumage almost as white as snow. The sparrow's flight is 

 rapid, and when prolonged for any great distance is undulating, but 

 when only flying a little way it is almost direct. Upon the ground it 

 progresses in a series of hops." Mr. Dresser says, " the sparrow is 

 eminently gregarious : even during the breeding-season one observes it in 

 small groups searching after food ; and in the autumn and winter they 



