Utility and Egenomy of Birds 
‘“Willsome onerecommend areliable SPARROW 
trap, and so become a public benefactor ? ”’ 
(Daily Mail, 7.11.18), and war against STAR- 
LINGS and BULLFINCHES and the institution 
of SPARROW CLUBS were again demanded. 
These extravagant outbursts seem, however, 
to have given way to saner counsels to the 
effect that any relaxation of the law restrain- 
ing the killing of insect-eating birds would in- 
evitably result in diminished grain, vegetable, 
and fruit crops, and the birds finally recom- 
mended to be kept in check, but not entirely 
exterminated, were SPARROWS and Woop- 
PIGEONS (Daily Mail, 4.11.18). A plague 
of caterpillars was prophesied early in the 
year, and the indiscriminate slaughter of 
small birds and the taking of their eggs was 
therefore deprecated, especially as the severe 
winter of 1916-17 had almost destroyed the 
smaller insect-eating birds by the continuous 
frost and snow (Times, 21.11.18). An ad- 
mirable letter, entitled ‘‘ Plea for Protection,”’ 
signed by fourteen representative ornitholo- 
gists, appeared in The Times of April 24th, 
1918, pointing out that the great majority 
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