David, at 07:01 on May 28 1996, you wrote to Bill Grimsley...

DD> There are less sparrows along the Gwydir Highway than there used to be.

BG> They've become smaller, have they?  Or did you mean that they are not as 
BG> prolific as before?  Better leave the english-mangling to Rod, I think. :)

DD> There are fewer sparrows flying around the Gwydir highway these days.  

Yeah, I thought that may have been the case.  :)

DD> Those sparrows struck by the BMW motorcycles quietly cruising the highway 
DD> on a Saturday afternoon, are now less sparrows than they used to be . . 

They're not a patch on the poor little Rosella who (hopefully still) lives
near Glen Innes, sans one of its entire wings, which I unfortunately found
stuck in the VL's grille, following a Sydney-Brisbane trip recently.

DD> I looked in Dymocks for a Macquarie dictionary yesterday - that had mostly 
DD> Collins (and Websters), no Macquarie :-(

Must have sold out to all the discerning people, I guess.  :)

Regards, Bill
@EOT:

--- MsgedSQ/2 3.30