THE SPARROW IN EUROPE. 21 



rural economy, estimates that the sparrows of France 

 consume annually ten million bushels of wheat." 



Jardine says that a price is set on their heads on ac- 

 count of the depredations which they commit upon 

 grains and garden seeds. 



Valmont de Bomare, in his Dictionary, published in 

 1791, says, "In Brandebourg, in order to diminish the 

 ravages committed by sparrows, a price is set on their 

 heads, and the peasants are compelled by law to bring 

 in a certain number yearly ; in each village there are 

 sparrow-hunters, who sell their birds to the peasants, to 

 enable them to pay their tribute. The bird is bold, 

 cunning, and quick in discerning snares or devices to 

 frighten them ; it breeds three times a year, feeding its 

 young with inserts, and especially bees, though its 

 principal food consists of grain. It follows the farmer 

 while sowing, harvesting, threshing, or in feeding his 

 poultry ; it enters the dovecot, and with its bill pierces 

 the throats of young pigeons to obtain the grain in their 

 craw." 



That the sparrow's destructive propensities are well 

 known in England, is attested to by Oowper's lines: 



"The sparrows peep, and quit the sheltering eaves 

 To seize the fair occasion ; well they eye 

 The scattered grain, and thievishly resolved 

 To escape the impending famine, often scared, 

 As oft return, a pert, voracious bird." 



The following remarks, which are reproduced from 

 the Bulletin of the French Acclimatization Society, con- 

 cerning the " ravages committed by the Sparrows in 

 Algeria," are taken from " The American Cultivator" 

 for August 25, 1877. The writer says, "Wherever 

 there are woods or plantations of trees, there the spar- 



