THE SPARROW— FOR AND AGAINST. ii 
to rescind the order. The injury they do to the corn is something, 
certainly, but it may be exaggerated ; besides, ought not these 
useful creatures to be paid ? ” and Mr. Cundall adds ; “ That they 
are highly useful no one can doubt who is in the least familiar 
with the habits of the bird. During the spring and summer 
months sparrows destroy many millions of noxious insects. We 
have watched their unwearied industry in this respect, and have 
thus long since tolerated the damage done for the good effected.” 
In Robert Mudie’s Feathevcd Tribes, he says : — “ Sparrows 
do some harm to small seeds when newly sown, and to patches 
of grain when early ripe, and also, at certain seasons, to the buds 
of shrubs and trees ; but, upon the whole, they do much more 
good, by the number of insects and caterpillars which they 
destroy But for them, the house flies would, in 
some situations, multiply to such an extent as to be intolerable ; 
and were they not so incessant in the destruction of those prolific 
pests, the cabbage butterflies, it is doubtful whether one plant of 
the tribe could be reared in the market gardens.” 
Then, too, though sparrows “ make havoc amongst our flower 
seeds, they do us an immensity of good by eating the seeds of 
numerous troublesome weeds, which, if allowed to seed, would 
not only choke and weaken the growth of our crops, but rob the 
soil of its strength and nutriment ” — and surely our bulbs, &c., 
can be protected by nets. As to the house martins, I cannot 
think that they will disappear because the sparrows sometimes 
take possession of their nests ; and, anyway, it seems to me to be 
against the principles of our Society to encourage man in a raid 
of any sort against any member of the bird family ; for every 
bird, even if let alone by human beings, has enemies enough to 
contend with. Surely the “ common ” sparrow has as much 
claim upon our sympathy and protection as any other of our more 
favoured feathered friends. 
Kathleen E. Knocker. 
Tunbridge Wells. 
If Mr. Moody, late instructor in ornamental art to the South 
Kensington Art School, had, before writing that sentence in his 
Leciures and Lessons on Art which says that “a dead sparrow 
would enable us to arrange the marqueterie of a cabinet to per- 
fection,” been able to peruse Mr. Aubrey Edwards’s article, he 
would doubtless have been covered with confusion at the 
erroneous ideals of beauty which he had set up in his mind ; 
for Mr. Edwards tells us that the sparrow is not beautiful. He 
also tells us other strange things in disfavour of the sparrow. 
He says “ there is no bird of his size that dares to attack him,” 
which is certainly incorrect, for anyone observing the demeanour 
of a sparrow towards dear little cock robin, will notice a con- 
siderable tendency on the sparrow’s part to “ knuckle under” — 
indeed, I have generally observed that where a common meal of 
crumbs and tit-bits is going on, even three or four sparrows will 
take a back seat until Mr. Robin has had his choice. 
