TUE SPARROW. 261 



crevices of walls near the dwellings of man. The 

 extreme voracity of the spaiTOws in devouring 

 fruits and vcgetahlcs and young flower-buds,— the 

 determination with which they pull up every 

 young radish, or the early sprouts of our mustard 

 and cress,— their devastation among the peas in 

 summer, which they will get at by opening 

 the pods ; these and similar misdemeanom'S render 

 them very obnoxious to the gardener. If, how- 

 ever, it were possible to exterminate the whole 

 race of sparrows, our gardens would, in all pro- 

 bability, be in a worse condition than now ; for they 

 consume, especially wdiile they have young ones, an 

 incredible number of soft-bodied caterpillars and 

 moths, which would, were they suffered to live, com- 

 mit greattir injury to vegetation than they. 



Though some of the traits of the sparrow's dis- 

 position are certainly less pleasing than those of 

 otlier birds, yet many instances are recorded of 

 tlieir affection for their nestlings, which might win 

 our regard. Smellie relates a very remarkable 

 case of this. " When I was a boy," he says, '' I 

 carried off a nest of young spaiTOWs, about a mile 

 from my place of residence. After the nest was 

 completely moved, and while I was marching 



