Rats, perhaps, but who'd be a sparrow ?

In the County Budget allocated to the Chief Constable, £261  11s  10d  was spent on the destruction of 53,632 rats, 33,990 sparrows, and 14,581 eggs, and it was agreed to allocate a further £250 for the coming year.

In urging the necessity of this destruction of vermin, it was felt that the efforts of the government in increasing food production would be seriously retarded unless the rats and sparrows were still further reduced.