REFERENCE TO HORTICULTURE. 



117 



the berries of the jSolanum Dulcamara. The chaffinch, the house-sparrow, 

 the tree-sparrow, and diflFerent other species belonging to the genus Frin- 

 gilla, feed on insects and seeds ; sometimes on berries ; and when food is 

 scarce, on the buds of trees. They also eat the anthers of Crocuses and 

 other spring flowers. In severe winters the buds of the Gooseberry and 

 Currant tribe are sometimes devoured by the common house-sparrow ; 

 and this even in the neighbourhood of London, where it might be supposed 

 this bird would find food at all seasons. The bullfinch, cross-bill, and 

 starling, live on insects and worms, and occasionally grain. The raven 

 (Corvus Corax L.) lives on mice, rats, poultry and other animals, as well 

 as on carrion. The carrion crow (C. Corone L.) and the hooded crow (C. 

 Cornix L.) have similar habits. Mr. Waterton considers the carrion crow 

 as merely a variety of the raven ; " he rises long before the rook, and retires 

 to rest later than that bhd. Indeed, he is the first bird on wing in the 

 morning, and the last at night, of all our non-migratory, diurnal British 

 birds. He feeds voraciously on ripe cherries, and in autumn eats walnuts; 

 but he destroys many worms and caterpillars ; though when his young are 

 in the nest, he seizes game and young poultry wherever he can find them." 

 {Essdys on Nat, Hiat-) The rook (Corvus frugilegus Z/.) lives principally 

 on the grub of the cockchafer, the wireworm, and other insects ; but will 

 occasionally devour corn ; and, during the winter season, is very destructive 

 to turnips. The jackdaw (C. ikf onedula L.\ the jay, and the magpie, feed 

 on a great variety of animal and vegetable substances. The woodpecker 

 (Picus jL.), of which there are several species, feeds on ants and other 

 insects ; more especially on the larva of the timber-eating species, which it 

 extracts by means of its long tongue, after having perforated the wood with 

 its bill. Neither the titmouse nor the woodpecker, Mr. Waterton observes, 

 ever bore into the hard and live wood. The wryneck (I'unx TorquiUa i.) 

 lives principally on ants ; and the common creeper (Certhia familiaris Z,.), 

 which is generally dispersed through the country, and is remarkable for the 

 great facility with which it climbs up the trunks of trees, feeds entirely on 

 insects. The nuthatch (Mtta europse'a L.) lives occasionally on insects, 

 but principally on nuts, which it breaks with its bill after having firmly 

 fixed them in the crevices of old trees. The cuckoo feeds principally on 

 caterpillars and other insects. The swallow and the martin feed entirely on 

 insects taken on the wing ; they appear about the end of April or beginning 

 of May, and depart in October. The goatsucker (Caprimulgus L.) lives 

 on insects, particularly on cockchafers, which it seizes on the wing, and on 

 butterflies ; but this bird is more frequently found in solitary woods than iu 

 gardens or frequented places. 



866. The greater number of birds which frequent gardens belong to this 

 order ; and while they do good by devouring insects, snails, and worms, 

 they are also to a certain extent injurious, by eating fruits and attacking 

 newly-sown or germinating seeds. The singing-birds are the best for 

 destroying soft-winged insects, such as moths and butterflies. Of all the 

 birds of this order, perhaps the hedge-sparrow is the most harmless, and the 

 house-sparrow the most mischievous. The former lives upon the seeds of 

 weeds or other plants that lie upon the surface of the ground, and it rarely 

 attacks buds ; while the house-sparrow scratches up newly-sov/n seeds and 

 crops the tops of seedling plants when they are just penetrating through 

 the surface of the soil, such as peas : it also eats the smaller fruits, and, 



