"THE WAGES OF THE CHOIR."
[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."
SIR,—The interesting article in last week's Spectator entitled " The Wages of the Choir" gives a sore dig to poor ' Jack Sparrow' when it says :—" There is really nothing to be said for • him." It might interest some of your readers to hear how in this garden he earned his wages honestly, at least on one occasion. A month ago the water-lilies in the pond were sickly plants, and to ascertain the reason the pond was emptied. The roots were found to be perforated like a honey- comb by the larvae of the caddis-fly, and the caddis-worm in its hard case lay in abundance in the mud at the bottom of the pond. How to clear away the pest without disturbing the water-plants was a problem which the gardener resolved "to sleep on"; but before the hour• of sleep the question was happily solved. On visiting the pond in the evening we found that a concourse of the feathered tribe had assembled, and were feeding riotously on the nymphs which dared to protrude from their coverings. ' Jack Sparrow' alone cracked the closed cases open. With his snub bill he smacked the hard case on the slate-lined side of the pond, until the poor pupa, nolens miens, looked out to see what was the matter and was made short work of by our impudent little gutter fiend. In the course of a few days almost all of the offending insects had disappeared, and the birds returned to the kitchen-garden, having evidently enjoyed a change of diet.—I am, Sir, &c.,
Previous page
