xlvi 
INTRODUCTION. 
destroying the feathered friends to whose untiring efforts the very existence of their crops is in a large 
measure due *. 
Then, again, to pursue the argument in another direction, if the Sparrow is fond of ripe grain it 
is still fonder of the ripe seeds of the variegated Scotch thistle. This formidable weed threatened at 
one time to overrun the whole colony. Where it had once fairly established itself it seemed 
well-nigh impossible to eradicate it, and it was spreading with alarming rapidity, forming a dense 
growth which nothing could face. In this state of affairs the Sparrows took to eating the ripe seed. 
In tens of thousands they lived on the thistle, always giving it the preference to wheat or barley. They 
have succeeded in conquering the weed. In all directions it is dying out, and simply because it has 
no chance of propagating itself in the only way possible, that is to say, by a dissemination of its 
seed. I would ask, is not this a benefit to the agriculturist of a kind to entitle the bird to the care 
and protection of the whole community l 
It should be remembered, also, that the services of the Sparrow as a scavenger in our colonial 
streets are not to be despised. The droppings of the horses are turned over by these industrious little 
birds and scattered to the winds, and in a variety of other ways they contribute to the cleanliness and 
purity of our thoroughfares. 
The resultant fact is that for all these inestimable benefits we must be prepared to pay some- 
thing ; and it seems to me that the small tithe of grain which the Sparrows levy at a time of the 
year when everything else fails them is a very moderate consideration indeed. But it is the old 
story over again of ignorant prejudice and popular clamour. In Hungary, as we are informed, the 
same indiscriminate crusade was carried on some years ago, and was persevered in till not a Sparrow 
remained; then, after sufficient time had elapsed to show what an error had been committed, the 
Government had to offer a bonus of so much per head for the birds in order to reestablish them in 
that country f. 
* Even Mr. J. H. Gurney, Jun., whose pamphlet ‘ On the Misdeeds of the Sparrow ’ is the most recent contribution to the 
subject, and who urges the necessity of keeping down this bird, feels bound to say : — “ It may be that in some exceptional 
seasons (when a great plague of insect-life shall again occur), as in 1574, when it is said cockchafers gathered in such numbers 
on the banks of the Severn as to prevent the working of the water-mills, and in 1838 when they formed a black cloud in Galway, 
which darkened the sky for a league, destroying vegetation so completely as to change summer into winter (‘ Wild Birds’ Protec- 
tion Beport,’ p. 170), Sparrows will do good. Bearing this in mind no one should advocate their extirpation.” He candidly 
says “ that they mix the com with considerable quantities of wild seeds, including, bo it freely admitted, the destructive knot- 
grass and corn-bindweed ; but even then they take corn by preference.” And he concludes : “ Although it is desirable to keep 
them down at all times, it should be remarked that the mischief done by them at harvest-time is 20-fold greater than at 
seed-time.” 
f Thus writes tho accomplished historian Michelet: — “ The ‘ miserly agriculturist ’ is the accurate and forcible expression 
of Virgil. Miserly, and blind, in truth, for he proscribes the birds which destroy insects and protect his crops. Not a grain 
will he spare to the bird which, during the winter rains, hunted up the future insect, sought out the nests of the larvae, examined 
them, turned over every leaf, and daily destroyed myriads of future caterpillars; but sacks of corn to the adult insects, and whole 
fields to the grasshoppers which the bird would have combated ! With his eye fixed on the furrow, on the present moment, 
without sight or foresight ; deaf to the grand harmony which no one ever interrupts with impunity, he has everywhere solicited 
or approved the laws which suppressed the much-needed assistant of his labour, the insect-destroying bird. And the insects 
have avenged the bird. It has become necessary to recall in all haste the banished. In the island of Bourbon, for example, a 
price was set on each Martin’s head : they disappeared, and then the grasshoppers took possession of the island, devouring, 
extinguishing, burning up with harsh acridity all that they did not devour. The same thing has occurred in North America 
with the Starring, the protector of tho maize. The Sparrow even, which attacks the grain, but also defends it — the thieving, 
pilfering Sparrow, loaded with so many insults, and stricken with so many maledictions — it has been seen that without him 
Hungary would perish ; that he alone could wage the mighty war against the cockchafers and the myriad winged foes which 
