NATURE NOTES. 
the young ones are taught is to eat peas ; for as soon as they 
leave the nest they are fed principally upon the half-digested 
leaves and tender young fruit of the pea. And in some places, 
where they are not abundantly supplied with other green food, 
they attack some of the bulbs and other flowers. When not 
robbing the gardens they are robbing the chickens, and when 
not doing that they are robbing the pigs, and when not doing 
that they are robbing the cattle and sheep of their meal 
and corn, and when not doing that they are robbing the 
cornfields, and when not doing that they are robbing the corn- 
ricks and barns. And this goes on from one year’s end to 
another, except for a few weeks when they would do better to 
leave the caterpillars to the more skilful grub-hunters— the tom- 
tits and the soft-billed summer birds. And it must be remem- 
bered that though they get caterpillars for their young they go 
on stealing for themselves all the time. So in the matter of 
feeding they rob us all the year round. 
Selbornians may say — That is a farmer’s question, and does 
not concern our Society. But it concerns our pockets and pros- 
perity as well as others ; for the sparrow is increasing to such 
an extent as to cause great loss all over the country. 
But to come to our indictment against the sparrow. He is 
the most adaptive bird in existence, as he is hardy, strong and 
nearly omnivorous, and lives at our expense. He breeds at a 
fearful rate, and drives away every other bird with whom he 
enters into competition. There is no bird of his size that 
dares to attack him, for he is bold and has a strong beak. The 
flycatcher will snap its beak at him, it is true, but does not 
actually touch him. He is driving out of the land one of the 
nicest, gentlest and most trustful of our birds — a bird whose 
soft, liquid language speaks of nothing but of gentleness and 
peace. Years ago there were five times as many house-martins 
as there are now, and their decrease, I believe, is owing to the 
sparrows. A pair of sparrows will sit near complacently 
watching the martins building their nest, and when they have 
almost done the masonry the sparrows coolly take possession. 
And they take very good care never to be both absent at once 
until the martins have given up all thoughts of enjoying their 
own again. The martins go and build another nest elsewhere, 
and the same thing happens over again. Well, no bird can 
stand this sort of thing for long, and the martins are decreasing. 
The sparrows serve the sand-martins in the same way, when the 
latter nest near houses or farm-buildings, as anyone may see at 
many of the railway stations in Surrey. There is a good illus- 
tration of this at Gomshall station. The sparrows find that 
the green-sand is warm and dry and comfortable, and they get 
the holes dug for them. I have not watched them take the 
newly-made holes, but I have no manner of doubt that they do 
so, or, at all events, that they take the holes which the martins 
w'ould have used ; for a sparrow is far too ’cute to take the dis- 
