94 JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



with US. Let us put up proper houses and keep them with us once 

 more. — F. M. David, Damariscotta. 



The English Sparrow, A Bird Insectivorous. — Not- 

 withstanding the harsh words and abuse which has been heaped up- 

 on this bird, I am still a friend to him and always shall be. He is, 

 I believe, the most diligent gatherer of insects of all the Sparrows. 

 Where I live the dooryard is over-run with grasshoppers and the 

 vSparrows (English) have a great time chasing them, catching and 

 carrying them to their young. I have also seen them catching the 

 Forest Caterpillar {Heteroca^npa guttivitta) also for its young. A 

 friend of mine told me he was troubled with a great many spiders 

 around his buildings and in the stable. The English Sparrow has 

 a nest behind a closed blind on one of the windows, and my friend 

 told me the adult birds had cleaned out the spiders around the 

 house and in the interior of the stable, much to his satisfaction. 

 When the brown-tail moth began to come in here, blown in by heavy 

 winds, the English Sparrows took a hand eating the body of the 

 moth and leaving the wings on the ground. A pint of the wings 

 could be picked up in the day time under an arc light, but not a 

 single body could be found. I watched and saw the sparrows come 

 and get them. I shall always be a friend to them. — H. IV. Jewell, 

 Farming ton. 



Meadow Larks in Cumberland County. — I think that all 

 bird lovers living in Cumberland County will be glad to know that 

 the Meadow Lark is becoming common in this part of the state. 

 For many years these birds were not plentiful here, but latterly they 

 have Vjeen common residents and have bred in various places. I 

 know of two localities in Westbrook, one in Deering, and one in 

 Scarborough where they are to be found. And not long since, I 

 saw from the window of the car, three flying about in a field in New 

 Gloucester, The Larks come early and stay late and are among 

 the most attractive of our birds. Who that is a lover of the "realm 

 of beauty and of song" does not feel a thrill of joy when, on some 



