56 



JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



from the twigs as soon as swelling commences. Something may be done 

 by dusting the trees with lime, soot, Sec, and by threading the branches 

 with cotton. It is also wise under these circumstances not to go in for 

 hard pruning, as birds seem to find more difficulty in abstracting all the 

 buds from slender whippy shoots than from shortened stumps, and by 

 leaving a sufficient number of whiplike shoots on lightly pruned trees you 

 ensure at least a partial crop. I have seen beds of Carnations absolutely 

 ruined by being pecked to pieces by this destructive nuisance, but must 

 stop, as to catalogue all the villainies of the sparrow would need a fair- 

 sized volume ; in fact, one is already in existence in which the exhaustive 

 researches of Mr. Tegetmeier and the late Miss Ormerod are chronicled. 



So few ordinary observers differentiate between the house sparrow and 

 its near relative, the tree sparrow, that comparatively few observations 

 respecting the latter are on record ; but I am inclined to think that, so far 

 from increasing after the rapid ratio of the commoner species, its numbers 

 remain stationary, if not actually diminishing. It lacks the aggressive 

 cheek so characteristic of the house sparrow, being almost retiring (by 

 comparison) in its habits, so that beyond levying toll upon the Wheat 

 crops I do not know that there is much that can be said in its disfavour. 



The greenfinch and the chaffinch have considerable affinity with the 

 sparrow, consorting freely with him and partaking to a large extent in 

 his sins. Perhaps the most annoying form which their destructive 

 energies take is that of uprooting young seedlings just as they are push- 

 ing through the soil, the whole of the Brassica tribe suffering heavily 

 from this cause. If the gardener attempts to save his own seeds of any 

 of the Cabbage tribe, he will need to be an early riser to outstrip the 

 greenfinch, which has an enormous appetite for seeds, being worse even 

 in this respect than the common or brown linnet (gorse linnet in the 

 Midlands), though it also is a voracious seed eater. 



The linnet is more difficult to scare, though easier to kill, than the 

 greenfinch, as it will fly in the face of a gun if it has tasted seed, while 

 the greenfinch becomes very wary after a shot or two. 



We have had an interesting addition to the list of garden robbers in 

 the Midlands in the shape of the hawfinch, or grosbeak. This bird was a 

 rarity in our part of the country twenty years ago, but has now spread all 

 over the district and become quite common. " Numerous " would perhaps 

 be the more correct word, as the bird is so shy and wary that many of 

 those who have suffered from its visits have never seen it clearly enough 

 to swear to the identity of the thief. Green Peas are its speciality, and, 

 as the saying is, it is a whale for them. A pair of hawfinches will nearly 

 strip a good row in a couple of days, or, at least, not leave enough to be 

 worth picking. Their appetite is simply gigantic, almost upsetting one's 

 belief in Euclid's axiom that "the less cannot contain the greater" and 

 rivalling even that of the wood-pigeon. Even when busy feeding the 

 hawfinch generally keeps one eye on the look-out, and it needs a careful 

 stalk and quick shot to secure him. The best method of destroying these 

 birds is trapping, a single green Pea on the plate of a common spring rat- 

 trap being the most effective bait. A most interesting communication 

 appeared in the December number of the Zoologist respecting the bird from 

 Mr 1L B. Howard, in which he gives the results of very careful observa- 



