22 THE HOUSE SPARROW. 



rows assemble in incredible numbers. One writer goes 

 so far as to deplore the introduction of gum-trees, be- 

 cause they harbor the sparrows, and it is difficult to 

 dislodge their nests from these slender, lofty trees. 



" It is stated that on one estate alone, 200 acres of rye 

 were so completely devoured by the sparrows before it 

 was ripe, that not a single corn was harvested; and it 

 was calculated that in a neighboring wood, some 150 

 acres in extent, there were 284,000 nests. One colonist 

 complained that the sparrows had carried away two 

 tons of his hay ; and from the average weight of the 

 nests weighed, it was estimated that ten tons of hay 

 were carried away to construct these 284,000 nests. 

 Further, it is stated that this same wood, which consists 

 mainly of the Aleppo pine, is annually infested with 

 caterpillars to such an extent that it is dangerous to go 

 through it in the months of March and April, because 

 the pine caterpillar is venomous. It seems that the 

 sparrow, in Algeria at least, prefers grain to insect food." 



A few thoughts from the pen of Mr. Knapp, in Cas- 

 sell's Popular .Natural History, conduct to the same in- 

 ference. After expatiating briefly upon the friendly 

 and sociable disposition of these birds among themselves, 

 and their peculiarlove for human society, he says, '-'The 

 sparrow feeds on his (man's) food, rice, potatoes, and 

 almost any other extraneous substance he may find in 

 the street; looks to him for his support, and is main- 

 tained almost entirely by the industry and providence 

 of man." 



He who has been a constant reader of Nature, an 

 English weekly devoted to science,for several years past, 

 cannot have escaped the conclusion that the sparrow is 

 destructive to blossoms. Thomas Comber, of Newton le 



