HOUSE SPARROW. 79 
1894. Bowker, a bird-catcher, who often plies his 
trade in the Bollin Valley, tells us that a few years ago 
he saw a small clump of alders, near Castle Mill, liter- 
ally covered with ‘Aberdevines. Mr. J. Platt watched 
a flock feeding in a birch-tree on Alderley Edge in the 
winter of 1896-97. 
The Siskin was abundant in North Cheshire in the 
winter of 1897-98. We saw birds on several occasions 
at Handforth, Monks’ Heath, Siddington, and Ashley; 
and Mr. J. J. Cash observed a flock in Toft Park, near 
Knutsford. 
HOUSE SPARROW. 
PASSER DOMESTICUS (Linnzus). 
Spadger. 
Except in the bleaker portions of the Hill Country, 
the House Sparrow is an all too common resident in 
Cheshire. In the Hill Country it is to a large extent 
replaced by the Chaftinch, although even here a few 
birds frequent the isolated farmsteads. 
So long ago as the middle of the last century, the 
Sparrow was regarded with disfavour by the agriculturist; 
for we find in the accounts of the chapel wardens of 
Holmes Chapel that in 1743 four shillings and five- 
pence was paid for killing Sparrows, and in 1772 ten 
shillings and sixpence was expended upon a new 
sparrow-net.' With the advance of cultivation and 
the foolish destruction of its natural enemies by the 
game-preserver, the Sparrow has increased to an 
alarming extent; and although comparatively little 
corn is grown in Cheshire, the bird is a force that has 
1 T. Worthington’ Barlow, A Sketch of the History of the Church at 
Holmes Chapel, Cheshire, 1853. 
