Birds. 8815 



balance may be, and I believe is, on tbe right side for them. Rooks especially do us 

 an amount of good, of which I fancy we have little idea. — Edward T. Bennett; 

 Betchworth, September 6, 1863. 



Food of Small Birds. — The old adage of" Audi alteram partem " ought to be con- 

 sidered. I observe the editor of the 'Zoologist' has resumed the subject ; but his 

 comparison of the French Government having " taken up " the subject and ventilated 

 it is not a good parallel. The small birds in Fiance are nearly all destroyed ; I mean 

 sparrows, finches of all sorts, and blackbirds and thrushes. In England these birds 

 are too numerous, also sparrows and other small native birds. I mentioned in a for- 

 mer communication how much the landed property in France is subdivided, in conse- 

 quence of there being no law of primogeniture ; and all the enactments made will not 

 cause an increase of small birds equal to that in England. In Fiauce even robins 

 are dressed and eaten eagerly. A few years ago, on changing my residence, my gar- 

 dener mentioned that it was no use to sow peas in a particular far-end of the garden, 

 as the sparrows had hitherto eaten them all. The peas were, by my orders, sown 

 there ; and on their ripening they were beset by sparrows, but on having two or three 

 killed every day for a week they deserted the peas. Rooks I have endeavoured to 

 preserve for thirty years ; but when I lived near my rookery I was compelled 

 always to make a few examples when sowing my crop of potatoes. The worthy editor 

 spares the robin (which is venerated all over England) ; but in July, if the bird were 

 opened, you would report of his having eaten a few bunches of various fruits : he is a 

 " robbing bird," but on a small scale and for a short period. — H. W. Newman; Hill- 

 side, Cheltenham, October 5, 1863. 



[My much-respected namesake scarcely ventures to look the question full in the 

 face ; that a rook has stolen a potato, a magpie a silver spoon, a robin a bunch of cur- 

 rants, and a jackdaw a pair of spectacles, is recorded on the most unquestionable 

 authority, and cannot be controverted : but these isolated facts do not carry with them 

 the inference that the rook is particularly destructive to potatoes, &c. Mr. Bennett, 

 a very scientific farmer, seems to me to take a much clearer view of the case, that 

 " the balance of the work done by birds is for our benefit ;" this is the philosophic 

 plan, and not to select a single instance. Our French friends seem to me to have 

 done this very fairly by exhibiting the contents of a stomach every month in the year. 

 — Edward Newman^] 



Food of Small Birds. — In your paper on the " Food of Small Birds" (Zool. 8760) 

 you state that M. Florent-Prevost's series of specimens illustrating that subject 

 " attracted no attention whatever." Permit me therefore to enclose the following extract 

 from an article on " Ornithology in the International Exhibition,!' which appeared in the 

 1 Ibis ' for July, 1862, by which you will see that public notice was especially directed 

 to those specimens while the Exhibition was still open. The ' Ibis ' may not enjoy so 

 large a share of support as other Natural-History periodicals, but it seems only fair to 

 its editor that his efforts to keep its readers acquainted with what is passing in the 

 ornithological world should receive their due acknowledgment. I may further add 

 that, if my memory serves me right, a medal was very properly bestowed on M. Flo- 

 rent-Prevost for the same series of specimens. — Alfred Newton; Magdalene College^ 

 Cambridge, October 1, 1863. "The extensive area occupied by the French depart- 

 ment contains several noteworthy objects to the ornithologist. Entering from Italy, a 

 large series of well-mounted birds meets our eyes as they stand well arranged on the 

 shelves to our left hand. There is first (886) a series of the principal types of mam- 



