SPARROW. 
85 
Lordship; and about five or six years ago, to prevent its 
falling down, he had it repaired—every chink well pointed; 
and of course the colony was broken up, and the members 
dispersed: the next year but one, the field in which it stands 
was sown with turnips, and when the plants came up, and 
escaped the ravages of the fly, they looked well, and grew 
as well as perhaps any other turnips for five or six weeks, 
when, to the astonishment of Mr. Dawson, the bailiff, every 
plant was entirely covered with grub: whether the caterpillars 
belonged only to one species or not I do not know, for at 
that time I did not go to see; but nine women were to be 
seen daily for some time, gathering them off” the plants and 
destroying them. Before the following spring, several places 
in the building were re-opened, and the Sparrows soon took 
possession of their old domiciles; and since that time there 
I has been no more trouble or loss with caterpillars. I leave the 
fact to speak for itself. 5 There are many other similar accounts. 
Mr. Jesse, too, states in his ‘Gleanings in Natural History/ 
that it has been calculated that a single pair of Sparrows 
during the time they have their young to feed destroy above 
three thousand three hundred caterpillars in a week, besides 
other insects; countless thousands are thus prevented from 
multiplying. 
The same Mr. Briggs, of Melbourne, whose arguments these 
gentlemen had been confuting, mentions afterwards incidentally, 
at page 2490, that from January to September, 1848, four 
thousand five hundred and seventy-nine Sparrows were sent 
to the ‘Melbourne Sparrow Club. 5 I may here suggest that 
many of these supposed Sparrows may not actually have been 
such, for a similar institution existed until the present year in 
my own parish, and any small bird being conveniently called 
ja Sparrow, and paid for accordingly by the authorities for 
the time being, at the rate of a half-penny each, the necessary 
funds amounted annually on the average to about five pounds. 
Many and many an innocent victim has been sacrificed for 
jthis blood-stained ‘Head money, 5 a stigma on the annals of 
lour village jurisprudence. The farmers are the parties sup^ 
posed to be benefitted, though how erroneous the supposition 
is, I think I have sufficiently shewn. If not a case of ‘Felo 
Be se, 5 it is one unquestionably of pecuniary suicide. ‘Tem¬ 
porary insanity 5 is the sole verdict that I, ‘ex cathedra, 5 can 
pronounce against them, coupled with the wish that the re¬ 
peal of the corn laws may make them more awake to their 
