THE ENGLISH SPAKROW : A DEFENCE. 99 



' Fair fight and no favor," say I. Fight ? Yes, 

 they all fight at times, robin against robin, when they 

 are in the humor for it, and the weakest goes to the 

 wall. 



As to the accusation that the sparrows drive away 

 other birds, let the other birds defend themselves. In 

 physical strength they are all his equals. 



I cannot help thinking, however, that it is a fact yet 

 lacking confirmation. There is an old saying, " Give a 

 dog a bad name and of course he suffers for it." It is 

 my impression that in this instance it is but a news- 

 paper scandal got up for " copy," and endorsed by the 

 farmers who first introduced and then traduced the 

 poor sparrows ; used them first to get rid of the pests 

 that blighted their grain, then abused them for helping 

 themselves to the wages begrudged them. 



I have here the testimony of a very intelligent 

 observer of Nature, one who has carefully watched the 

 habits, food and peculiar ways of the sparrows in this 

 country as well as in England. He says : " I have never 

 been able to detect wheat or any other hard grain in the 

 crop, and it is my opinion that these birds are more 

 insectivorous than granivorous, and that it is the larvae 

 of insscts that they obtain in the buds of the fruit trees 

 and in the ears and joints of the wheat and oats which 

 induces their visits to the fields ; and if they pick the 

 husks it is not for the kernel itself, but for what is 

 really destroying it. The sharp pointed bill of the 



