56 THE BIRDS OP CALCUTTA. 



soul delights at home ; in India he has to stick rigidly to 

 holes in buildings if he wants to be safe. It is only due to 

 Philip to say that he is a most affectionate father, and will 

 do his utmost to warn his young of danger, flying with it 

 and chattering in the most impressive way when its safety 

 is threatened ; and I have been leproached for days by a 

 cock-sparrow whose offspring I had destroyed. For I 

 think it a wise proceeding to kill, on principle, every Spar- 

 row I can get hold of, and to encourage others to do the 

 same. There can be no doubt that whatever his function 

 in the world in primitive times, Philip has now outlived 

 his usefulness, and that to a very great extent. No bird 

 is such a thorough and unmitigated pest ; field and garden 

 produce suffers terribly from his attacks, and the insect 

 diet he provides tor his young cannot fairly be taken as a 

 set-off for this, especially when it is considered that in his 

 absence such insects would be taken by better birds than 

 he, which would not levy toll on the crops as well. And 

 the Sparrow is only too well-known as an enemy of all 

 other birds which he can induce to vacate his vicinity by 

 single or combined attack, or, if vioLnce fails, by perbis- 

 tent mobbing and vocal annoyance. In India and in 

 Europe, where he is a naoive, we do not see much of this, 

 for he and his various feathered associates have had ages 

 in which to settle matters and " shake down " together; 

 but in North America, where he was introduced half a cen- 

 tury ago, his unpleasant peculiarities have been only too 

 evident, and the native birds have been forced to retire 

 from th.e vicinity of human habitations in almost every 

 case ; while even in the old world, his hostility to our 



