92



Correspondence



“ divorce ” in the case of this species is not an uncommon phenomenon,

and that the old and more or less generally accepted belief that most

birds mate for life, and each year return to the site of the previous

nest to rear their young, must, like most cherished sentiments connected

with animals, be abandoned so far as this Wren is concerned, and be

regarded as still sub judice in the case of other species.


Sparrotvs and Motor Traffic


Apart from the other articles already noticed, perhaps the one that

will interest our readers most is a short account of the reaction of

motor-cars upon our ubiquitous and much abused friend the Common

Sparrow in Denver City. Mr. W. H. Bergtold sums up the results of

his investigations as follows : —


(1) There are fewer Sparrows in Denver than ten years ago ; (2)

there has been a notable decrease in the horse population of Denver

during the past five years ; (3) there has been a very patent diminution

in the amount of sweepings gathered from the streets of Denver during

the past decade ; (4) the reduction in street sweepings has resulted in

diminishing the Sparrow population by starvation ; (5) all these results

hinge on the introduction and multiplied uses of the motor-vehicle.


R. I. P.



CORRESPONDENCE


A CURIOUS FEATHER


Sirs,— Amongst the many readers of the Avicultural Magazine

I wonder if anyone can give me an explanation as to the cause of

malformed feathers. In May, 1917, I obtained a Grey Parrot—quite

a young bird, for he still had the black eyes which began to change

about a month after I had him, so I judged him to be about 8 months

old. I noticed in the right wing he had a malformed feather. It is a

kind of double feather split down the middle, the split edges being red.

He has no other feather like it, the rest of the plumage being smooth

light grey. I naturally thought that when he moulted the new

feather would be a normal one, but I was mistaken ; each year he has

shed it, and each year the same malformed feather appears. As far



