48 BIRDS' NESTS. 



away ; but at the season when th 

 live on insects, that is, at the seas 

 have their young, we ought to be glad to have 

 them. Starlings never do us any mischief, 

 except when our cherries are ripe when they 

 certainly help themselves very freely if we 

 allow them. But all the rest of the year 

 they live on snails, caterpillars, and grubs, 

 which are mischievous nearly all the year 

 round, especially when plants are growing, 

 and want all the leaves they can put forth. 

 Sparrows, I allow, eat a great deal of corn 

 both at harvest and sowing-time ; but I doubt 

 whether they do not destroy wire-worms and 

 other mischievous insects, more than enough 

 to make up for the damage they do to the 

 grain. No, no ; let them alone : they are 

 merry little fellows, and shall have shelter in 

 my ivy, even if no one else has a word to say 

 for them. But while you have the ladder 

 here, you may stop up with mortar the hole 

 where the hornets had their nest last year." 



