was so, would not they speedily become much more addicted to corn? I think there is not a doubt about it.
SPARROWS KEEP DOWN WEEDS.
Sparrows do much good to the farmer, in conjunction with many other little birds, by consuming vast numbers of the seeds of weeds. I think not nearly enough has been made of this by their friends and supporters. The following is a list of those which have been actually identified, with my authority for each:
Wild spinach (Chenpodium bonus-henricus), Mr. A. Willis.[1]
Knot grass (Polygonum aviculare), Mr. F. A. Lees.[2]
Black or corn bindweed (P. convolvulus), Mr. F. A. Lees.
Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale).
Goosefoot (Chenopodium album), Mr. F. A. Lees.
Field mustard (Sinapis arvensis), Professor Macgillivray.[3]
Chickweed (Stellaria media), Colonel Russell.[4]
Mouse Ear (Cerastium triviale) Professor Macgillivray.
Wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum), Professor Macgillivray.
Dock (Rumex crispus), Mr. F. A. Lees.
Pale-flowered persicaria (Polygonum lapathifolium), Mr. F. A. Lees.
Buttercup, Mr. H. N. Slater.
These seeds will spread from a hedge, the sides of which are not brushed with a reaping-hook in the summer, and make a field very foul; so that everyone must admit that sparrows and small birds generally do some amount of good by keeping them down. A
