THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



55 



Yarrell, the author of the standard 

 work oil British Birds, says: — " Tlieir 

 young are fed for a time with soft 

 fruits, young vegetables and insects, 

 particularly caterpillars, and so great 

 is the number of these that are con- 

 sumed by the parent birds and their 

 successive broods of young, that it is a 

 question whether the benefit thus per- 

 formed IS not a fair equivalent for the 

 grain and seeds required at other sea- 

 sons of the year." 



Macgillivray, author of an elaborate 

 and critical History of British Birds, 

 says : — *' The seeds of various plants, 

 such as the field mustard, Sinapis 

 arvensis, the charlock, Raphanun ra- 

 p/umLstrum, the chick weeds and mouse 

 ears, Stellaria and Cerastium, as well 

 as of the field and garden pea, Pisum 

 sativum, are also gathered ; and in 

 summer it partly subsists on insects of 

 various kinds, which also afford the 

 chief nourishment of its youmj." 



Dressor, the author of the recently 

 published magnificent work on the 

 Birds of Europe, says : — •' In open 

 places where there are a few trees in 

 the towns, such as the gardens in the 

 squares or in the parks, it is eminently 

 useful in ridding the foliage of the 

 insects which would otherwise destroy 

 the leaves and tender shoots ; and its 

 utility in this respect has led to its 

 being introduced into the United States, 

 where in the main streets there are 

 avenues of trees which, previous to the 

 introduction of the present species, were 

 rendenjd bare and leafless by the ravages 

 of caterpillars. During the breeding 

 season insects, whenever they are to be 

 h;id, form the staple food of both old 

 and young birds. Mr. Snell says that 

 it is very fond of the seeds of Poly- 

 (jonum avidxlare ; and it may occasion- 

 ally he seen to catch the common white 

 butterflies (Papilio bi'as/dcm et rapce) on 

 the wing, though not so frecpiently as 

 one could wish. It destroys, however. 



myriads of the small smooth caterpillars 

 and larvcB lohich feed on the buds of 

 the trees, and is one of the best guardians 

 of the orchard. It is true that it also 

 takes toll of the fruit, but one can well 

 spare a little when one reflects how 

 much the crop of fruit is dependent on 

 its active labors in destroying these 

 noxious insects." 



The authors referred to speak of the 

 sparrow being a consumer of the seeds 

 of weeds ; this is the case with almost 

 all the Fringillidae, and I have observed 

 the snow bunting {Plectrophanes 7iival- 

 is), and the mealy redpole (Linota 

 linaria), on many occasions very busy 

 with the seeds of difierent weeds which 

 got the better of us in this land of weed 

 luxutiauce, as it is also the land of 

 caterpillars and vigorous insect growth. 

 We want not only abundance of Pas.ser 

 domesticus, the common sparrow, but 

 of as many similarly disposed birds as 

 we can get, for the little birds of the 

 country don't make any headway against 

 the insect pests. During last summer 

 the trec^s in my " bush," and in all 

 other "bashes" that I saw, swarmed 

 so with caterpillars that walking in 

 them was most unpleasant, we got so 

 covered with caterpillars. 



Pray let everyone advocate the care- 

 ful preservation of so useful a bird. 

 Better let the sparrow have a little of 

 fruit and everything else, than let the 

 insect pests have nearly all, or all, as 

 the case may be. I did not secure a 

 single one of my cabbages this year 

 owing to the ravages of the catei pillar 

 of the white butterfly. I did my best, 

 trying to catcli the insects with the 

 butterfly net, but they stole a march 

 upon me and the c.iterpillars were 

 abundant. Did not I wish for a flock 

 of the English, or any sparrow that 

 would do the work. 



All the small birds and thrushes 

 {Tardus wigratorius, the "Robin" in- 



