Birds. 2351 



eat grain, or, in other words, are not omnivorous : but I have seen sparrows, while on 

 the wing, take meadow Tipulas, moths, butterflies, &c. On one occasion, when a 

 boy, I was placed in " durance vile " for an offence : it happened to be in a room the 

 window of which overlooked some neighbouring yards, in one of which was a common 

 bakehouse : under the eaves were two sparrow-nests, and, not having any other part of 

 animated nature in view, I set myself the task of counting how often the sparrows 

 visited their nests with food during half an hour. One male bird, which was darker 

 than the other, thus enabling me to distinguish him, captured fourteen flies on the 

 wing, and the four birds went from their nests to a water-spout and back 104 times. 

 Now, so soon as I obtained my liberty, I went to the place to see the object of attrac- 

 tion, and found it to be a large, dead cat, entirely covered with the larvae of (I sup- 

 pose) the blue-bottle fly. Now, if they are as prolific as the common house-fly, which 

 is computed to produce in one season no less than 20,000,900, — but say in round num- 

 bers 20,000,000, — thus were prevented, by the capture of fourteen flies, the amazing 

 number of 280,000,000 ; and by the destruction of the 104 larvae, in the same ratio, 

 2,080,000,000 : now if this be a correct calculation, what an amazing quantity of in- 

 sects 3500 sparrows will destroy in one season ! Would it not be better to lay aside 

 for a time this killing propensity, at least until our late sanitary enactments come into 

 full operation, and until dunghills are removed, sewers cleansed, and the filthy fold- 

 yards cease to pollute the atmosphere — no longer suitable places for the production of 

 such myriads of insects as are now produced ? These are the principal places where 

 they breed ; and as hedge-sparrows and robins leave our abode at this season of the 

 year for nidification, it would appear that the house-sparrow is the only bird, or nearly 

 so, to keep these troublesome insects in check. I will give you another fact. While 

 taking a walk in Newton-Cap Park, in the spring of 1847, the gardener came and. 

 asked me to go into the gardens to see the state of the fruit-trees, caused by insects 

 which he said had been brought by the east wind. It was just after the cold wet 

 weather in April and May, which caused us to have so few of our summer visitants : 

 and although he had two women and a boy employed every day to destroy the insects, 

 yet many of the trees were denuded of almost every leaf: the cause I pointed out, and 

 advised him not to destroy the birds (as I was aware he had killed some), but to sow 

 his seeds a little deeper, and employ a boy to prevent tbem eating his peas, &c, when 

 they made their appearance above ground. Some nine or ten days after I saw him 

 again, when he told me that the sparrows from the old hall adjoining had found out 

 the pests, as he called them, and had done more in clearing the trees in a few days 

 than the people employed had in as many weeks, — and that for the future, instead of 

 killing them as enemies, be would do what he could to protect them. Here we see 

 the good and evil placed in a balance : I think the good considerably preponderates; 

 and still hope that the impartial investigator will think that Yarrell, Jesse and Knapp 

 are right. — Josejrfi Duff; Bishop Auckland, November 15, 1848. 



Remarkable instance of Swjacity in the common House Sparroiv (Fringilla domes- 

 tica). — This morning it happened that a sparrow had got his head fixed between two 

 tiles, which were placed perpendicularly against a wall in our garden, so as to com- 

 pletely prevent its extricating itself, when, on being discovered by its companions, se- 

 veral of them, by their united efforts, endeavoured to extricate him by laying hold of 

 his head with their beaks and flying backwards, but without effecting their purpose. 

 Their earnest solicitude for their brother in affliction, coupled with the awkwardness 



