THIRTEEN] SECURING OUR ALLIES 
can be done with the waste or inferior honey, or 
with sugar. 
There is hardly a single hopeless pest among the 
animals that you are likely to meet with in your 
new country home. One of the few is the English 
sparrow, a bird that has no redeeming qualities to 
make his mischief endurable. He feeds almost al- 
together on grain or fruit, destroying insects only 
when he must. He should be driven from every 
reputable homestead, as he can be by persistent 
antagonism and by making it comfortable for other 
sorts of birds. The crow kills a few mice without 
doubt, but he eats young robins. I allowed a tame 
crow to hop around my house for a few days. He 
stole everything that he could carry off, and one 
morning there were bird feathers outside the door. 
He had raided one of my catbird nests early in the 
morning. This led to a prompt remedy. Black- 
birds are such inveterate corn-pullers, and so much 
disliked by pet birds, that they also are left out of 
my commune. 
I am sorry that to this list of hopeless outcasts 
I must add the red squirrel. If one appears dur- 
ing nesting time in my trees, the whole lawn is in 
a flutter of excitement. They eat young birds 
[305] 
