34 THE HOUSE SPARROW: 



eat fruit much ; they will, however, sometimes attack the 

 cherries, and then do so very wastefully, puUing them off 

 and dropping them. The question whether sparrows pro- 

 tect foliage to a perceptible extent, can easily be decided 

 by comparing roadside hedges, always frequented by 

 them, with those far in the fields, where they do not go at 

 their insect-taking season. So far as I have observed, the 

 leaves are not more eaten by caterpillars on the latter 

 than on the former. 



Birds' friends and foes seem to agree in thinking that 

 all small birds are alike, though differing in food and 

 habits as much as sheep and wolves. This is a great 

 mistake : some birds do us nothing but good, others are 

 of a mixed character ; and whether these do us more 

 good or harm may depend on circumstances. The 

 sparrow differs from other more or less mischievous small 

 birds, much as rats do from squirrels and fieldmice. 

 Those who, wishing to destroy sparrows, shoot also every 

 other small bird they come across, thinking them all 

 much the same, kill out all the other sorts before they can 

 thin the numbers of the sparrows to any extent, so much 

 more cunning are these. If stories about the ill-effects of 

 killing sparrows have any foundation in fact, these ill- 

 effects were doubtless due to killing the useful birds as 

 well. 



Sparrows have been introduced into new countries, as 

 America, Australia, and New Zealand, and evil reports are 

 made of them in all. So far as I know, in those coun- 

 tries, nobody pretends to say from practical experience 

 that the sparrows do any appreciable good to make up 

 for their ravages on corn, etc. I was in North America 

 for sixteen months thirty-five years ago. There were no 

 sparrows there then, things went well without them ; and I 



