224 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. vut. 



destructiveness of the House- Sparrow that no one has had 

 a good word to say for the bird. Mr. CoUinge has, however, 

 attacked the problem from a new standpoint, and m making 

 an investigation into the food of the nesthng, has found 

 that, except for a few spiders and earthworms, it consists 

 entirely of injurious insects. According to Mr. CoUinge, the 

 adults are also feeding upon the same food when they have 

 young in the nest, so that during this period the House- 

 Sparrow is of considerable economic importance. Mr. 

 CoUinge writes speciaUy of fruit-growing districts, and he 

 concludes as a result of his examination of 404 adults and 

 329 nestUngs, that if the House-Sparrow were considerably 

 reduced in numbers, it would probably do more good than 

 harm in such districts. Mr. CoUinge has certainly shed a 

 surprisiag new Ught upon an old problem. 



The second paper deals with a subject which the author 

 has already touched upon, and he now shows as the result 

 of preUmiiiary experiments that, at all events in the case of 

 the Rook, Starling, and House-Sparrow, a number of weed- 

 seeds eaten are passed through the intestinal canal uninjured, 

 and thus the bird, which from the mere examination of its 

 stomach-contents may be showTi to be beneficial, is in reality 

 a disperser of weeds ! This is especiaUy so in dry years, 

 when a much smaUer quantity of grit and soil appears to be 

 swaUowed than in wet years, and as a consequence more 

 of the seeds in the stomach pass through uninjured and 

 capable of germinating and growing into healthy and normal 

 plants. 



Mr. Collinge's investigations show how extremely difificult 

 it is to come to a right conclusion as to the economic status 

 of a bird, and how dangerous it may be from an economic 

 point of view to attempt any drastic interference with nature, 



H.F.W. 



