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The Canadian Horticulturist. 



which had been driven away by the EngHsh sparrow. The same complaint 

 has frequently been made in this country. 



Now from my personal observation I am satisfied that this is an error, 

 for I never saw a greater variety of birds in Toronto than there is this year, 

 and there never were more sparrows, still the sparrow is at the root of the 

 evil. It has been claimed by some that the sparrow is an insectivorous 

 bird ; this is not the case, excepting when raising their young. A close 

 observer cannot but have noticed that, as soon as the first brood is hatched, 

 the parent birds would be seen running along the house-eaves and such like 

 places m search of spiders, with which they feed their young, and on nothing 

 else, so long as the supply holds out. What is the consequence ? There 

 is to-day not a spider to be seen in the city of Toronto, that is accessible to 

 the sparrow. Here is the whole secret why insects are increasing : their 

 most deadly enemy, the spider, is being exterminated by the sparrow, and 

 the whole host of insectivorous birds cannot do the work that the spider has 

 been doing, silently fighting on our side, slaying its thousands and tens of 

 thousands of our most troublesome insect enemies. 



The sparrow must go, and with him the mercenary taxidermist — the 

 latter, I am sorry to say, few towns are now without their quota — or the 

 Horticulturist will have to give up in despair all attempts at fruit culture. 



Toronto, Out. J. NEWHALL. 



