BY A FRIEND OF THE FARMERS. 41 



much of the sparrow's food is waste, about houses as 

 well as roads and fields ; but this waste in his absence 

 would go to support better birds. Chaffinches feed on the 

 roads like sparrows, so far as they give them a chance, 

 and would be more numerous in their absence. 



It may be said — in the absence of sparrows, would not 

 other corn-eating birds increase enough to do as much 

 mischief? My answer is that finches in the same 

 numbers would be much less mischievous than sparrows, 

 not having so great a preference for corn, and living 

 more in the fields on wild seeds. Again, finches could 

 not increase to the same extent as sparrows, as will be 

 explained presently. Yellowhammers are very fond of 

 corn, but their numbers have in most parts been reduced 

 to a small fraction of what they formerly were by the 

 practice of trimming the sides of hedges and ditches in 

 summer, and so cutting off the supply of coarse grass 

 seeds which support these birds when no corn is to be 

 had. Yellowhammers will never be numerous enough to 

 do serious damage. It has already been shown that 

 finches are much less mischievous than sparrows in the 

 garden. Yellowhammers, so far as I have observed (and 

 they are numerous here), do no harm in the garden, 

 unless by eating grass seeds sown on a lawn. 



The only birds which seem to have become fewer here 

 during the last fifteen years are blackcaps and garden 

 warblers, which are among our best singers but are most 

 voracious fruit-eaters. Both species were numerous here 

 till the martins had fifty nests, when- most of the black- 

 caps disappeared rather suddenly, and garden warblers 

 two or three years later ; there have been but a few of 

 each species every year since. This looks as if these 

 birds which live on insects till the fruit begins to ripen 



