74 THE SPARROW 



usefulness of it to its clever neighbours the tits 

 the art of using its claw to aid its beak in the act of 

 appropriating. 



Its useful- It is, however, though only incidentally, undeniably 100 

 * useful to man, by devouring great quantities of insects, 

 grubs, and small reptiles which, if it spared them, 

 would do incalculable mischief to his crops. It is 

 not easy to keep down, and is impossible of extermi- 

 nation, but it probably does much more good than 

 evil. A heavy indictment of destructiveness has been 

 drawn up against it, and it has been written down as 

 ' a mischievous, cunning, and spiteful bird ' ; and it 

 would be easy to get a jury of British farmers and 

 fruit-growers to return a unanimous verdict that no 

 would warrant a sentence for its extinction. Some- 

 thing, however, could be said in its defence. They 

 tried one year in France to do without the sparrow 

 and paid the year after a heavier tax to the cater- 

 pillar. They have let it alone since then, finding it 

 to their profit to do so. Besides, they missed its cheer- 

 ful chirrup, its smug personality, and the entertain- 

 ment of its domestic and communal habits. 

 A bom Its pugnacity and resoluteness of defence, its amor- 

 fighter! ousne8S an( j resource of productivity (the nest is 120 

 scarcely ever without a brood all summer) have kept 

 the species vigorously alive. Not in vain has it been 

 called 'Venus' owne sone'. Its love seems to be 

 commensurate with its hate. It hates heartily because 

 it loves ardently. It fights in the dust, the bush, the 

 air, and round the chimney-cans with the obstinacy 

 and tenacity of a terrier. The presence of man hardly 

 deters it. It will pursue its fight not only under his 

 eyes, but among his feet. Quarrels with its kind 



