156 OUR BIRD ALLIES. 
seed after it is once fairly covered in. Once more, 
in spring, it turns its attention to seed barley and 
oats, and, unless scared away, will sometimes seriously 
diminish the future crop. There are thus two seasons 
in the year during which it is necessary to keep the 
sparrow from the corn-fields, viz., at seed-time, and 
again at harvest. 
The next accusation against the bird is that it 
drives away the martins from the neighbourhood of 
our houses, and sometimes even usurps their nests. 
And so, as the case is generally put, the sparrow, 
which is only partly insectivorous, drives away birds 
which are entirely so, thus depriving us of the services 
of more useful beings than itself. 
That it does occasionally so drive away the 
martin I cannot deny, for the accusation comes to 
me from all parts of the country, and is, moreover, 
one of very long standing. As is always the case 
when two creatures are forced into opposition by the 
struggle for existence, the weaker goes to the wall, 
and the bodily strength and bold, defiant disposition 
which have enabled the sparrow so greatly to 
multiply, give him the advantage over his less- 
favoured rivals, and enable him to drive them from 
the field. 
The next count in the indictment is that sparrows 
are great destroyers of thatch, digging out holes 
therein in order to make room for their nests, and 
so annually causing a vast amount of damage. This, 
again, I cannot deny. ‘The bird, naturally a builder 
in trees, is always ready to make use of a more 
