72 THE MEANING OF EVOLUTION 
that the great human food is grain. The sparrow 
belongs to the one bird group that makes a specialty 
of such seeds. 
Most of the English sparrow’s cousins in this finch 
group confine themselves rather rigidly to this diet. 
Here the variability of the sparrow again gives him 
the advantage. He may have the family fondness for 
seeds, but in their absence he can be content with 
almost anything edible. In the early springtime, when 
the seeds of last year are gone and those of the new 
year have not yet been produced, the sparrow is not 
averse to eating young buds from the trees. At this 
time he is not unlikely to eat our sprouting lettuce and 
peas. It is easy to be severe on him in this matter; 
but for a creature like man, who has the same tastes, 
who eats the enormous buds of the cabbage, the cauli- 
flower, and the brussels sprouts, or the more tender 
buds which he calls heads of lettuce, it seems par- 
ticularly inappropriate that he should throw stones at 
this little creature whose tastes are so similar to his 
own. 
While seeds are more suitable for an elder bird they 
are altogether too indigestible to be the food of 
nestlings. So when the sparrow finds its nest full 
we know he must sally forth in search of nourishment 
more simple of digestion. Now for a few weeks he 
searches assiduously, catching insects and caterpillars 
