2lS 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



the hawk would pounce upon one of the wag-tails, 

 those birds being more conspicuous, and the sparrow 

 would escape. It may further be worthy of note that 

 the speckled eggs of the sparrow assimilate in colour 

 with the black and white feathers and wool of the 

 lining of the nest ; we cannot tell, in our present 

 ignorance, how far this may have favoured the bird. 

 It certainly would be a great advantage if the sparrow 

 ever, at any time of its existence as a species, built a 

 nest without a dome, as the eggs would lie half 

 hidden among the feathers, and be almost invisible to 

 any passing egg-hunting bird. There are some birds, 

 a little more intelligent than others, that cover their 

 eggs on leaving the nest. I cannot but think that 

 this is an advanced step, slowly developed, towards 

 the construction of a dome. 



PARASITISM AND AGGRESSIVENESS. 



By allowing the sparrow to feed on our crops, to 

 breed about our houses, and to roost in our haystacks 

 and cornstacks, we greatly facilitate its multiplication. 

 Cultivated produce provides it with food all the year 

 round, except in the severest storms. Its accommo- 

 dating appetite enables it to turn from one source of 

 food to another ; hence it seldom suffers like other 

 birds from want of provisions. Its habit of nesting 

 and roosting about warm dwellings is a very great 

 advantage. It monopolises the housetop, and often 

 in winter several individuals may be seen basking on 

 the sunny side of a chimney, with evident pleasure 

 and satisfaction, whilst other half-famished birds are 

 hopping about in the snow. Stacks, also, and warm, 

 ivy-clad walls are taken possession of, to its own 

 peculiar advantage, but frequently to the detriment of 

 other birds, as from its pugnacity it can drive other 

 birds out, and compel them to take up with less 

 comfortable quarters. All these semi-domestic 

 habits tend towards the preservation and increase of 

 the species. 



Its aggressions on other birds form another kind of 

 parasitism. Its habit of taking possession of the 

 nest of the house-martin is well known. This hinders 

 the nidification of the other birds if it does not 

 materially profit the aggressor. I do not think it 

 ever rears a brood in the usurped nests of the martin. 

 The sand-martins are also subject to similar assaults 

 and hindrances. Sometimes it appropriates the nest 

 of another bird as a foundation for its own nest. Its 

 habit of building in shielded places among the rooks 

 has been alluded to. These habits, slowly acquired, 

 are now hereditary, yet mutable ; they all tend 

 towards the welfare and the spread of the species. 



It has been stated that the martins take revenge on 

 the impudent invaders of their nest, and occasionally 

 build him up within, but this requires confirmation. 

 I think the sparrow is too wide awake to be buried 

 alive. 



It is said that sparrows habitually roost in the nests 



of rooks in winter ; that they roost in their own nest, 

 and that they build a supernumerary nest like the 

 wren. The latter assertion I can confirm, but the 

 other two perhaps require investigation. All this, 

 however, tends to prove that the sparrow has acquired 

 habits which are very different from those of other 

 birds, and that it stands as an advanced species, so to 

 say, in bird civilisation. 



LANGUAGE. 



Constant association with man and with the 

 domestic animals that surround him, together with its 

 own sociability, has caused the sparrow to contract a 

 language that is superior to that of most other birds. 

 From the fact of being numerous it has many enemies, 

 and the burden of its life is to avoid its enemies. 

 Adversity sharpens its wits. When feeding in the 

 open exposed fields it is always alert to receive or 

 give a note of alarm. All the suspicious and adroit 

 movements of its enemies are understood. Very 

 often does the well-known note of the watchful 

 sentinel enable a whole flock to save their lives. 

 The copiousness of the sparrow's vocabulary is 

 perhaps most noticeable in spring, during the breeding 

 time. The various notes of alarhi, fear, warning, 

 menace, reproof, pleasure, or gratulation are then most 

 demanded ; then is the whole energy of its language 

 displayed. The business of pairing, selecting a site 

 for the nest, collecting proper materials, weaving 

 them into shape, sitting in turns, feeding the young, 

 and protecting them when fledged, could not be done 

 without a constant interchange of ideas. Teaching 

 the young how to procure food and how to avoid 

 danger, and retrieving them from numberless little 

 mishaps that befall inexperienced or weakly birds, 

 are tasks which require a great amount of tact and 

 intelligence. The cock sparrow takes considerable 

 pains in training and guarding the young. When he 

 thinks they have been rocked in their feathery ham- 

 mocks long enough, he sits on a branch and calls them 

 from the nest. For a day or two they occupy any little 

 convenient perch that happens to be near the entrance 

 to the nest, the old ones bringing them food con- 

 stantly. Having acquired command of wing they are 

 then escorted to the nearest feeding grounds, and 

 trained to seek their own food, being guarded all the 

 time with the greatest care. If at any time the young 

 should be left alone and no old ones on the scene, 

 and an enemy turn up, the old ones instantly appear, 

 and by word and example endeavour to call them and 

 attract them to some place of safety. Neither the 

 young nor the old are guided entirely by instinct ; 

 they deport themselves according to circumstances. 

 They often have to decide which is the best of two 

 ways of escape or defence, in the twinkling of an eye. 

 In these cases the old ones frequently display great 

 boldness and sagacity, generally throwing themselves 

 within the sphere of danger. Sparrows often assist 



