68 THE BIRDS OF CALCUTTA. 



or, if violence fails, by persistent mobbing and vocal 

 annoyance. In India and in Europe, where he is a 

 native, we do not see much of this, for he and his^ 

 various feathered associates have had ages in which to 

 settle matters and " shake down " together ; but in. 

 North America, where he was introduced half a 

 century ago, his unpleasant peculiarities have been 

 only too evident, and the native birds have been 

 forced to retire from the vicinity of human habitations- 

 in almost every case ; while even in the Old World, his 

 hostihty to our traditional alUes, the beautiful and 

 harmless swallow tribe, is still only too evident, and 

 would of itself be a sufficient reason for his execution. 

 Of course it will be said that even Sparrows have 

 their use in the economy of nature and should not be 

 thoughtlessly wiped out ; but there is no more pro- 

 babiUty of actually extirpating Philip than of arriving 

 at the same consummation in the case of rats and 

 mice, creatures of similar tendencies in the way of 

 uninvited domesticity. And the work of Sparrows, 

 whatever it may be, is equally well performed by the 

 Tree Sparrow {Passer montanus), a prettier bird than 

 Passer domesticus, as anyone may observe at Dar- 

 jeeling, where, as in Japan and in some other parts 

 of the world, the Tree Sparrow is the house-frequent- 

 ing species. It can easily be distinguished from, 

 the house-sparrow by the fact that both male and 



