(To THE EDITOR OF THZ " SPECTATOR."1 Sia,—In my immediate
neighbourhood (near Stafford) swallows have increased within the last few years. Given facilities for nesting, i.e., securing free access to their old haunts, I find they return year after year and increase in numbers. But the sociable little window swallow or house martin often suffers severely, if not from the householders who sometimes destroy the nests, saying the birds are dirty, then from sparrows who take possession while they are away. Before the war I had quite a little colony of window swallows, and some of them had built in nesting-boxes which I had up for them. One pair also used a half coco-nut shell which I had wired under their nest when the bottom fell out during a storm; the young birds who were just able to fly had been clinging to the bare sides. This season the old birds took joyous possession of this nest, but have since deserted it because of the persecutions of a sparrow, which has now become so wild that it cannot be got, as the first shot fired at it failed to reach it. Owing to the difficulty of procuring cartridges for my garden-gun during the war other nests have suffered in the same way, and out of the colony only one pair of birds have succeeded in hatching out young this year. Anyone who has listened to the joyous twittering of the martins all through the season must grieve to see them destroyed by those vicious and destructive pests, the sparrows (I have had several nests of young martins dragged out and killed by them!), who . delight equally in persecuting the window swallows, tearing our crocuses to shreds, stripping our garden of peas, and spoiling corn crops in the field. The only remedy is to destroy them by shooting. and in any way possible, at all seasons of the year, and the objection to martins can be remedied by placing some sand on the ground under their nests, and removing it when they leave. Should you consider the above may help others to pro- tect our little friends, kindly insert it in your valuable paper.
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