White.— O/z Ihibbits, Weasels, ami Sparrou-s. 203 



Huntingdon. I give part of ;i modern song, in vogue some 

 thirty years ago : — 



The moiiks of old famed stoiics told 



Of knights of chivalrouK arms, 

 When the guerdon of the warrior hold 



Was the maiden's peerless charms, 

 When hold Robin Hood and his foresters good 



Were merry as merry could be, 

 When the forester's life was free from strife, 



And his home was the trysting tree. 



Ciiouus. 

 Then, hurrah, hurrah, for bold Robin Hood : 



Hurrah for the olden times. 

 And one cheer more for each forester good. 



Who lives in the olden rhymes. 



This wilderness of forest was harbour for rabbits and 

 weasels equal to any of our New Zealand wilds. Caltivation 

 and population, both, have largely increased in historic times, 

 and we must not consider the JUitain ol the past as similar to 

 the Britain of the present. 



Some people point to the wonderful increase of the house- 

 sparrow in its new home, and say, " Look at that ; who'd ha' 

 thought it ! " Now, I can show they might have known what 

 the result would be by looking back on this bird's historj-, 

 provided they could do so as I can myself. Nearly fifty 

 years ago, when New Zealand was a very small place, and I 

 myself also small, I can well remember that public payments 

 were made in England to induce the boys to destroy the 

 house-sparrow. When a very little fellow I used to make a 

 practice of catching these birds, and saving their heads, which 

 liad a market value. When a good necklace of heads was 

 collected I would go to the workshop of the village carpenter, 

 who also must have collected rates or taxes, or in some way 

 had the authority to disburse certain moneys. His name 1 

 remember well — Chadwick ; he would count the heads, and 

 then give me a few of the large pennies current in those days. 

 So you see, some fifty years ago, at Cuckney, in Nottingham- 

 shire, England, it had been found necessary to devise means 

 to check the undue increase of the house-sparrow, and it 

 is every way possible that the same verdict had been passed 

 against the sparrow a hundred years previous to the date 

 mentioned. The hedge-sparrow is of quite a different cha- 

 racter, and must not be classed with the other. _ I thiidv it 

 has been found impossible to bring so delicate a bird the long 

 voyage to New Zealand. This matter of head-money for the 

 destruction of the sparrow, if disputed, can most likely easily 

 l^e proved by referring to the rate-Jaooks of that date in 

 the district mentioned, or probably in most other parts of 

 England. 



