BV A FRIEND OF THE FARMERS. ZZ 



summer, for neither they nor other birds do any harm in 

 my garden to buds after they have opened, nor to the 

 fruit-flowers. I have heard of such harm, but have never 

 met with an instance of its being done. 



Other birds are often blamed for the misdeeds of 

 sparrows, and killing out these is the best way of finding 

 out what mischief is done by them and what by the 

 others. It showed me plainly that the sparrows were 

 guilty, and that greenfinches, chaffinches, and titmice were 

 innocent, so far as buds, lettuces, and generally peas 

 were concerned. If the finches have taken any green 

 peas at all, they have not done so to a noticeable extent. 

 The greenfinches and chaffinches are so numerous in my 

 garden that they would eat every seed of cabbage, radish, 

 and other cruciferje, were the seed-beds not netted ; if a 

 net anywhere lies on the ground, scarcely a seed escapes 

 them there. They often get under the nets and cannot 

 find their way out, so there is no doubt as to what birds 

 eat these seeds. I beheve that sparrows will eat the 

 seeds of some, at least, of the cruciferas, when sprouting, 

 but in this respect the finches are as bad or worse. It is, 

 however, easy to net the beds, and then, so far as I can 

 see, the birds in question do no harm in the garden. 

 Chaffinches destroy a good many insects ; I think many 

 more than sparrows. Titmice abound in my garden ; 

 they destroy a great many caterpillars when they have 

 young ones, and, unless when they take the peas, do no 

 harm in the garden except to fruit, particularly pears, by 

 picking small holes in them near the stalk. They are 

 very destructive in this way. The results above described 

 go to prove that sparrows are much worse than useless in 

 the garden. 



Like other corn and seed eating birds, sparrows do not 



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