102 
SPARROWS. 
Society of England), in aid of what she terms the laudable object of 
destroying this crying pest, and having also resolved to collect a fund 
by public subscription to effect this purpose, if possible, have deter¬ 
mined to give 2s. 6d. to each competitor who fails to secure one of the 
above prizes and yet brings not less than 100 heads or eggs, and to all 
others who bring in not less than 50 heads or eggs they have decided 
to give a reward of Is. In all cases they demand that the heads shall 
be on strings or wires, of twenty-five each, and must have been put 
into a strong brine of salt and water.” 
Mr. Molineux, who is himself a member of the Sparrow Destruction 
Sub-Committee , informed me further that now attention was roused, 
and the boys were routing out the nests and killing the Sparrows 
“wholesale,” and it was believed that a great number would be got 
rid of. 
The above notes give some idea of what is going on about this 
well-called “nuisance” the Passer domesticus, or “House Sparrow,” 
and it might lessen the difficulty of getting the matter attended to if 
it was fully understood that under this name no other kind of bird is 
included, and that it is distinctly different from the “Hedge Sparrow.” 
There are some very vague ideas abroad on this subject, and so much 
communication is sent to me on the matter of Sparrow mischief that 
I feel bound to point out—besides the grievous waste to our crops, 
gardens, and fruit farms—how serious a matter it is that, whilst the 
increase of kinds of fly pests of our corn-fields is so observable as it 
has been in 1887 and 1888—a regular means of lessening the number 
of our best and most helpful insectivorous birds should go unchecked. 
Space does not allow me to go into anything like the detail which 
would be of service in this matter, so I therefore append a list of 
publications in which information of a sound, well-founded, and 
serviceable nature, from trustworthy writers, is given. 
I also take leave to add that, through the kind courtesy of Mrs. 
Russell, widow of the late Col. Russell, I have been presented with 
the series showing (in preserving fluid) the contents of the Sparrows 
killed for examination during many years, the dates of examination 
(showing the steadily continuous method of observation, month by 
month and year by year) being often given; and to those interested in 
the subject the series affords a very instructive general idea of amount 
of grain consumed. 
