NOTES ON THE HABITS OF SOME COMMON BIRDS, ‘iw 
I have seen a rook pursued and fairly driven away by one of these 
courageous birds. I once saw a missel-thrush fly full tilt against 
_ arook which was sitting on a branch, and attempt to dislodge it 
from its perch. We may, accordingly, infer that the rook is a 
habitual pilferer of the nests of the smaller birds, and that these 
birds regard him as one of their greatest enemies. 
Hovse Sparrow (Passer domesticus, Linn.). 
Although it is probable that the house sparrow has been a 
common bird in Britain from very remote times, its excessive 
_ abundance in our own day is, no doubt, attributable to the changes 
_ which have gradually taken place in the face of the country. As 
_ this bird is much less plentiful in moorland and forest regions than 
‘in cultivated districts, we may infer that in prehistoric times, 
_ when places now resounding with the “ busy hum of men” were 
_ wrapped in the solitude of the ancient Caledonian forest and 
‘spots now clothed with verdure were as yet but dreary stretches 
of moor and swamp, the sparrow can scarcely have found life so 
_ well worth living as at the present day. The country has 
flourished, and the sparrow has shared in its prosperity. As in 
_ the case of the starling, we may therefore believe that drainage, 
cultivation, greater abundance of food, a larger supply of suitable 
_ nesting-places, and the destruction of weasels, hawks, and other 
destroyers of game, have together had much influence in increasing 
the numbers of the sparrow and other small birds. 
_ The fecundity of sparrows is enormous, and it is certain that 
“numerous broods are produced in the course of a single season. 
Alike in earliest spring and latest autumn, we have seen the 
fledgelings, fresh from the nest, receiving their food-supplies from 
e parental bill. 
_ Owing to the inconvenient abundance of sparrows in our garden, 
and their connection with certain misdemeanours to be afterwards 
BA numbers. I found it useless to take down their unfinished nests, 
_as the structure was again and again renewed, and if driven from 
one spot they immediately commenced to build in another. Their 
I acity in this respect was astonishing. From a large vine of 
‘Clematis, on our garden wall, an unsightly mass of grass and 
“withered stems was removed at least half-a-dozen times, and as 
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