REMINISCENCES OF ANDKEW DOWNS. XXVll 



wild-cat, the eagle, owl, and the ratjit-snares are against it, with 

 the great host of the weazel trihe — ermine, mink and marten. 

 Eaccoons, too, Mdiich are numerous in some parts of the province, 

 are most destructive to game hirds nesting on the ground. 



In one of his papers on Xova Scotian birds, contributed by 

 Downs to the X. S. Institute of Xatural Science in 1865, Downs 

 writes thus of the English sparrow: — "What a treat it would be 

 to see these saucy fellows preening their feathers on our roofs and 

 collecting in dozens round our doors to pick up the scraps, and I 

 would even go so far as to say, gobbling up the cherries in our 

 gardens; for who would not make a sacrifice of some kind to colo- 

 nize his domain with such a family of merry friends?'' Anent 

 which Mr. Harry Piers, the secretarv of the Institute, writes me 

 the following answer to a question al)out the sparrow, dated Hali- 

 fax. 1904: "'Yes, the European sparrow is met with every- 

 where in Nova Scotia, I am sorry to say. I once was his friend, 

 but with all the evidence there is against him, I have had to turn 

 over to his enemies." 



Thoughtlessly brought over the Atlantic to eat up the canker- 

 worm in the trees of American cities, the sparrows did well for a 

 while, but with change of climate soon developed other tastes. 

 They became almost wholly seed and vegetable eaters, devouring 

 young buds on vines and trees, and injuring all cereal crops, so tliat 

 they are now protested against as bad citizens and criminals and 

 condemned by everyone. They increase very fast and spread every- 

 where, driving away tne native birds, taking their homes and 

 making themselves generally nuisances. The same storv comes 

 from Bermuda, where they are driving out the two wild birds of 

 that colony — the beautiful blue and red birds. Another instance 

 of the terrible mistakes which may be made by ill-advised accli- 

 matization. 



Although it has been stated that Downs was rather shy of letter- 

 writing, there was one man Avhose correspondence he prized and 

 whose praises he was never tired of recounting — the veteran 

 naturalist, Charles Waterton, of Walton Hall, Yorks, the author 

 of Wanderings^ in South America, and of many essays on 



