SUMMER BIRDS OF SHAW's GARDEN. 59 



House Sparrow, not only along railroads, highways and rivers, 

 but in the remotest settlements. At St. Louis the first were 

 introduced in 1869, a few pairs only, but it seems they have 

 multiplied from the start, as Sparrows were seen in widely 

 separated parts of the city as early as the autumn of 1871 and 

 they had taken possession of the entire city in 1875. Since 

 then, in spite of all persecution and serious adversities, their 

 increase has not been checked and the Garden retains its 

 quota, giving it life and animation in the dreary winter months, 

 when all other birds have deserted it with exception of a few 

 of the hardiest kinds. As no nesting boxes are provided on 

 the premises, they have to build their nests in places where 

 they would not get permission from the director, if they asked 

 for it, as these are built much more for warmth and comfort 

 than for ornament. There are no better parents among birds 

 than the House Sparrows. Although they like society, they 

 still find time to raise two or three broods of four or five young 

 each season. No trouble is too much for them; if their nest 

 is removed this evening, by noon tomorrow it will all be car- 

 ried back again and this may be done for several days in suc- 

 cession. A Sparrow never deserts its young; should one of 

 the parents be killed, the other will do the work alone; should 

 one of the young fall from the nest before it can fly, it will not 

 be lost, the parents will feed it and see that it gets into a safe 

 place. If one is put in a cage, the mother will feed it for days 

 and weeks, even if she has to enter a room to get to it. 



The House Sparrow has several remarkably good qualities, 

 to which it owes its marvelous multiplication and unparalleled 

 spread. Some of its foremost traits, as for instance its re- 

 puted egotism and lack of consideration for others, are so 

 human-Hke and undoubtedly the result of its ages of contact 

 with man, that they have earned for the poor bird the deadly 

 hatred of just those persons who possess these traits them- 

 selves in a high degree. 



EUROPEAN TREE SPARROW. PasscT montauus. 



This lovely little bird should be known to every St. Louisan 

 not only because St. Louis and vicinity is the only place in 



