214 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN 



for I do not learn that it is witnessed at 

 other times. There is some decimation of 

 the House Sparrows in the Garden in this 

 way. 



Noisy and pugnacious as they crowd to- 

 gether, yet these sparrows have appeared 

 usually to give the small migrant birds 

 little annoyance. Occasionally I have noted 

 a marked exception to this statement, when, 

 it may be, a warbler, provoking animosity 

 by the challenge of its song, has been 

 fiercely chased about for a time by an angry 

 sparrow and sometimes has flown out of 

 the Garden. Such a pursuit is more likely to 

 happen upon a day when there are but few 

 migrants present, or in the earlier part of 

 the season, and it seldom occurs. Later in 

 the season the House Sparrows seem to be- 

 come wonted to the presence of the migrant 

 birds and more willing to share the grounds 

 with them. 



In the early morning hours Thave found 

 them less noisy and less in evidence to sight 

 than in the forenoon, when they are gath- 

 ered in larger numbers from the neigh- 



