216 THE COMMON SPARROW. 



their love of association bringing upon them a 

 destruction, which a contrary habit would not 

 tempt. They roost in troops in our ricks, in the 

 ivy on the wall, &c., and are captured by the 

 net: they cluster on the bush, or crowd on the 

 chaff by the barn-door, and are shot by dozens 

 at a time, or will rush in numbers, one following 

 another, into the trap. These and various other 

 engines of destruction so reduce them in the winter 

 season, that the swarms of autumn gradually di- 

 minish, till their numbers in spring are in no way 

 remarkable. I have called them plunderers, and 

 they are so ; they are benefactors likewise, seeming 

 to be appointed by nature as one of the agents for 

 keeping from undue increase another race of crea- 

 tures, and by their prolificacy they accomplish it. 

 In spring and the early part of the summer, before 

 the corn becomes ripe, they are insectivorous, and 

 their constantly increasing families require an un- 

 ceasing supply of food. We see them every minute 

 of the day in continual progress, flying from the 

 nest for a supply, and returning on rapid wing with 

 a grub, a caterpillar, or some reptile ; and the num- 

 bers captured by them in the course of these 

 travels are incredibly numerous, keeping under 

 the increase of these races, and making ample 

 restitution for their plunderings and thefts. When 

 the insect race becomes scarce, the corn and seeds 



