THE SPARROW IN AMERICA. 47 



their home and its treasures to the cruel mercies of a 

 relentless foe. On revisiting the nest two days subse- 

 quently, the eggs were gone. They had either been 

 spirited away by the authors, or destroyed by the 

 enemy. 



A better example of the sparrow's pugnacity and 

 vengeful spirit than the preceding, could certainly not 

 be given. Were these its only faults we might chari- 

 tably hide them from view, and extend to these ex- 

 tremely familiar creatures a most generous welcome. 

 But their excessively rapacious and vigorous appetites 

 had them into wrong doings. Being omnivorous birds, 

 they do not carefully discriminate between the culti- 

 vated varities of our fruits, and their wild, untamed 

 prototypes; and between the seeds of gramineous plants 

 growing wild, and our cultivated cereals. Their destruc- 

 tive propensities, though well attested, are not as fully 

 appreciated by the popular mind as they should be. 

 Agriculturists and small fruit growers will do well to 

 master the details of their history, and accord to them 

 the welcome which their merits, rather their demerits, 

 amply deserve. 



'Tis true this species has received most flattering 

 encomiums from casual observers, but the writer cer- 

 tainly cannot bear the best of testimony to its useful- 

 ness. As it is not as destructive to noxious insects as 

 many of our smaller native birds, its presence seems 

 unnecessary. During the breeding-period, I admit, 

 many caterpillars are destroyed and fed to the young, 

 but even this good is more than outweighed by the 

 mischief which is committed. 



Its indubitable hatred of native species ; the depreda- 

 tions which are perpetrated upon the tender buds of 



