224 
NATURE NOTES. 
THE SPARROW: A DEFENCE. 
I WAS both surprised and sorry to see Miss Isabel 
Fry’s article (p. 198) on the house sparrow in Somerset- 
If we have too many sparrows, the wisest and best plan 
~ would be to let the hawks alone. Our game pre- 
servers are much to blame for killing these birds. A few 
sparrow-hawks would be quite sufficient to reduce the large 
number of sparrows and other small birds. If farmers and 
gardeners knew how many insects these birds consume, espe- 
cially in the breeding season — for the young birds feed almost 
exclusively on insects — I feel sure that they would encourage 
them instead of molesting them. Of course it cannot be denied 
that they consume a considerable quantity of seeds and grain, 
but considering this is only done three or four months out of the 
twelve, the number of destructive insects they destroy is quite 
sufficient to balance the account. I remember reading in the 
papers of Cheshire farmers giving so much a head for sparrows 
and so much a dozen for their eggs, one Association killing over 
3,000 sparrows. They soon found, however, that the ground 
was so infested with insects that they paid so much a head for 
sparrows to be liberated on the same grounds where they had 
been so unmercifully slaughtered. 
W. R. Riley. 
CHILDREN’S COLUMN. 
Do You Feed the Birds? — If not, the sooner you begin 
the better, and be sure you put the crumbs for them where you 
can see them. I will tell you how I manage. A bracket has 
been put on a balcony railing just outside the dining-room 
window, on which 1 put food for them twice a day, after break- 
fast and lunch. 
At the beginning of winter my little friends remind me that 
it is time to begin, by coming at the usual hour and sitting on 
the railing, look into the room, generally one at a time, and this 
about eight months after they were last fed, so you see they 
have memories. Then I get my board out, and for a few days 
they are very shy, particularly if it has been repainted, as it 
was this year. They think it is a trap, but they soon become 
bold. The sparrows are always the first comers, and it is 
curious to see their different dispositions, some so timid, others 
bold and impudent. 
Have you ever seen tomtits and how they dance ? I think 
them quite patterns of good breeding. They bow and curtsey, 
and waltz round, and hold their heads up and begin it all over 
again. The chaffinch, too, is a refined gentlemanly bird, and 
has elegant manners, but not quite as graceful as dear little 
Tom. A long-tailed tit once came and looked at us too. He 
