A FRIEND OF THE BIROS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXI, Issue 8444, 11 August 1911, Page 6

A FRIEND OF THE BIROS.

TO THE EDITOR

Sir, —1 notice letters signed "Another Fool," and "One more Fool." "Another Fool from Mitcham" says sparrows are not insect-eating birds. 1 once- took notice of sparrows feeding their nestlings under a. balcony, and though I did not time them, 1 believe the old birds fed the nest with moths twenty times an hour through the whole summer day. If every sparrow's nest, is fed in the same- way, I venture to..' say that the sparrow .should be an ajjent of some weight against the dia-mond-backed moth. "One more Fool" believes the prevalence of the grass grub to be due to the disappearance of native birds, and I think the protection of the dotterel should have the attention of all farm workers. It has an unfortunate habit of laying its almost invisible eggs on newly-sown wheat paddocks,, where mtlny are destroyed by the'; roller", also 1 on paddocks where turnips, havti'.'^eM. fed, which are {ifterward.s ploughed. • I once found a nest in such a-'place and placed the egg on the ploughing close to thcvsite of |tho nest aml the birds took no notice-whatever of my interference, hatching w 'chick' withini^a few days, from, whi.ch•-■•it' seems they will help tlioniselyes !if v;gi'voh- the chance. . ..The. growth ! ofi AjrricPm 'aiid -gorse---in the river-beds 'may have driven it on to the cultivated land. Its nest is merely a scratch in the ground. The native lurk is very rare, and, though

not timid in the presence of man, seems to prefer tussock or swamp to cultivated land. Possibly tussock fires destroy many, or the competition of English birds may have been too much for it. Its nest is like that of | the skylark, but sometimes built along a bank. With regard to the sea martin, there were thousands of them about after the last rain picking up caterpillars, etc., which the flood waters had drowned. The County Council has n6t yet destroyed all the seagulls—-"mores" the pity," says the shepherd next month. TINWALD. August 11, 1911.