The best time to shoot Sparrows for dissection is 

 between 3 and 5 in the afternoon. The crop will give 

 a far better idea of the day's meal than the gizzard. A 

 magnifying-glass is often a great help in making out 

 dubious substances : the late Col. Russell considered 

 that with a watchmaker's lens the most delicate insect 

 might be detected in the crop of a Sparrow, and no one 

 ever took greater pains to master the Sparrow-question 

 thoroughly than he did, or knew more about it. Mac- 

 gillivray gives a figure of a Sparrow's crop (B. B. i. 

 plate viii.) . It is to be looked for on the right side, 

 and is generally very easy to find, being sometimes 

 swollen with food to the size of a marble. 



Sparrows are far more difficult to keep down than 

 people, who have not tried it, suppose. Taking their 

 nests about the time of hay-harvest is the simplest 

 plan, and probably the most efficacious. They are very 

 artful in avoiding traps, and after a few days' shooting 

 at them become so wild as to be unapproachable. Nets 

 are very little use, and poisoned grain should never 

 be employed. Mr. Wood says that (f Hawk-Kites/' 

 such as are sold in toy-shops, have been tried with 

 success in the Isle of Thanet to scare them ; they are 

 too audacious to care much for scarecrows with us in 

 Norfolk. Although it is desirable to keep them down 

 at all times, it should be remarked that the mischief 

 done by them at harvest-time is 20-fold greater than 

 at seed-time, for at the latter season there are other 

 Finches which are often much more harmful than 

 Sparrows. If, as Mr. Wood remarks, farmers sowed 

 their grain deeper (/. c. p. 184), no birds would be able 

 to get it. 



In conclusion let me propound the following argu- 

 ment : Suppose that on the 31st of December, 1888, 



