GREY SQUIRRELS YET AGAIN.
Every other week or so, as it seems to me, some new crime is brought home to the grey squirrel, whose presence, neverthe- less, continues to delight very many observers. I was asked this very week to rejoice in their appearance on a little island on the Ouse, which has been, but I fear will no longer be, a paradise for birds' nests. The latest crime of the species is not against eggs or young or peaches or strawberries (in respect of which they have been previously convicted), but against wheat. They have been discovered both reaping and thresh- ing, nipping off the straw with their sharp teeth and thereupon devouring the fallen ear. However, this crime is among the peccadilloes only, It is hardly likely that they would destroy a serious amount. On this subject I see it is stated that spar- rows only eat the fallen ears ; and are unable to deal with erect crops. My experience does not altogether corroborate. They seldom attack the middle of a field, and perhaps do more harm to the stooks than to the uncut corn ; but at the same time they may devastate the edge of a field, even before the grain is ripe. The sparrow is a dreadfully adoptable bird. It can pretend to be a fly-catcher, dance in the air almost like a wagtail, and mimic even a tit.
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