18 THE HOUSE SPARROW. 



with great impudence, feeds quite at his leisure on the 

 scraps of meat that are left by the royal bird, and, 

 within a yard of the terrible beak and claws, splashes 

 about merrily in the eagle's bath. The large animals 

 are also favored by constant visits from the sparrows, 

 which hop about the rhinoceros, the elephant, the hippo- 

 potamus, or the wild swine, with utter indifference, 

 skipping about close to their feet, and picking up grain 

 as if they were the owners of the whole establishment." 



In rural districts the sparrow subsists almost entirely 

 upon insects and grains, the former constituting a large 

 portion of its diet in the spring and early summer; and 

 the latter, during the autumnal and winter months. As 

 these birds congregate in immense flocks, and are ex- 

 ceedingly abundant, considerable quantities of grain are 

 devoured. Consequently, they are much persecuted by 

 the farmer, and their ranks continually decimated by 

 guns, traps, nets, and other devices. Their services are 

 so immense in the destruction of insects as to render 

 them eminently useful to the agriculturist. A single 

 pair of these birds has been known to carry to its 

 young no less than forty grubs per hour, making an 

 aggregate of about three thousand for the week. In 

 every instance where the sparrows have been extermi- 

 nated, there has been noticeable a proportional decrease 

 in the crops from the depredations of insects. At Maine, 

 for example, an entire destruction of these birds was 

 authorized by law, and the result was that during the 

 following year even the green trees were killed by 

 caterpillars. A similar edict was proclaimed by the 

 government at Auxerre, and like results followed. 



In the fall, in addition to grain, various seeds, such 



