OF JfOEIHITMBEElAIfD AND DTJESAM. 47 



would consume eighteen thousand one hundred and forty-four 

 insects or larvae of insects. But as this estimate is low, the 

 number of insects consumed may safely be set down at twenty 

 thousand at least ; and it must not be forgotten that the Spar- 

 row breeds at least three or foiu' times in the year. 



How prodigious, therefore, must be the number consumed by 

 all the broods of a district like ours ! And, again, if we con- 

 sider the influence, according to the above calculation, which all 

 the hosts of Sparrows in the British Islands must exercise in 

 keeping in check the development of insect life, we must allow 

 that the existence of the Sparrow is really a matter of vast na- 

 tional importance. 



Undoubtedly the Sparrow takes grain when he can get it, 

 which is only during the time of harvesting, but our sociable 

 little friend ought to be credited with devouring also the seeds 

 of weeds, and thus materially assisting in keeping the land 

 clean. 



28. Teee Sparrow. P. montanus, Brisson. 



Fringilla montana, Bewick, Hist. Brit. Birds, Ed. 1847, 1., 248. 

 Passer montanus, Yarrell, Hist. Brit. Birds, Ed. 2, I., 516. 



The Tree, or, as it is not un&requently called, the Mountain 

 SpaiTow, breeds in both counties, and is a constant resident. It 

 is a far more retired bird than its congener, and is very local 

 and much rarer. I know of only three or four places where it 

 breeds in our district, namely, Elswick, near Newcastle, Whitley, 

 two or three miles north of Tynemouth, "Whitburn, a little north 

 of Sunderland, and in the neighbourhood of Durham. I have 

 never found it nesting in trees, but fi'equently in holes, and 

 under the coping stones of old garden walls. Mr. Erederick 

 Eaine informs me, however, that he has taken three nests of 

 this species in holes of the trunks of old dead trees in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Durham. 



The first specimen I obtained was killed at the Eabbit Banks, 

 Gateshead, about the year 1831. This is the example alluded to 

 in Selby's catalogue, and was the first ever taken in the district. 



