72 THE MEANING OF EVOLUTION 



that the great human food is grain. The sparrow 

 belongs to the one bird group that makes a specialty 

 of such seeds. 



Most of the English sparrow's cousins in this finch 

 group confine themselves rather rigidly to this diet. 

 Here the variability of the sparrow again gives him 

 the advantage. He may have the family fondness for 

 seeds, but in their absence he can be content with 

 almost anything edible. In the early springtime, when 

 the seeds of last year are gone and those of the new 

 year have not yet been produced, the sparrow is not 

 averse to eating young buds from the trees. At this 

 time he is not unlikely to eat our sprouting lettuce and 

 peas. It is easy to be severe on him in this matter; 

 but for a creature like man, who has the same tastes, 

 who eats the enormous buds of the cabbage, the cauli- 

 flower, and the brussels sprouts, or the more tender 

 buds which he calls heads of lettuce, it seems par- 

 ticularly inappropriate that he should throw stones at 

 this little creature whose tastes are so similar to his 

 own. 



While seeds are more suitable for an elder bird they 

 are altogether too indigestible to be the food of 

 nestlings. So when the sparrow finds its nest full 

 we know he must sally forth in search of nourishment 

 more simple of digestion. Now for a few weeks he 

 searches assiduously, catching insects and caterpillars 



