822 Rural School Leaflet. 



frightened; cheeps plaintively when lonesome; and makes a great dis- 

 turbance when fighting. 



But in the matter of cunning we must admit that the English Sparrow 

 is the superior of many birds of more pleasing personality. Undoubtedly 

 its achievements are due in large measure to its cleverness. It is very 

 quick to take a hint. I know of several instances in which firing a shot 

 gun into the midst of a flock of these birds drove them all from the 

 premises, although none were killed. I have seen a mother sparrow 

 employ the most skilful tactics in stealing earthworms from a mother 

 robin who was trying to get them for her own fam.ily. 



The nest of the English Sparrow is built in a protected nook beneath 

 eaves or other covering. Often it is placed in vines against a building 

 and occasionally is built in trees. It is an untidy affair, made of coarse 

 straws or grass and feathers without fashion or form. In these careless 

 nests the whitish brown or gray flecked eggs are laid and the young 

 reared. I do not know that the number of broods in a season has ever 

 been recorded, but the sparrows begin to nest early in the spring and 

 keep at it industriously until snow comes in' the late fall. 



In the summer, these sparrows scatter through the country for nest- 

 ing and for greater food supply. In the winter they flock to cities and 

 villages, living on the seeds in the refuse of the streets or in barnyards. 

 It is safe to say that the only welcome these little emigrants get in Amer- 

 ica is in the larger cities, where no other bird could possibly "make a 

 living." They will not build their nests in boxes suspended by wire, 

 and they do not like a box having no resting place before the door; 

 this latter preference may keep them from taking the quarters meant 

 for blue birds. If the opening to the nest is an inch in diameter, it 

 will admit wrens and chickadees but exclude the sparrows. 



References to literature. — Birds in Relation to Man, Weed and Deer- 

 born, p. 144; and the following publications of the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture: "English Sparrow in North America," "Relation 

 of Sparrows to Agriculture," by S. D. Judd; "The Food of Nestlings," 

 Yearbook, igoo. 



Supplementary Reading. — "A Street Troubadour," in Lives of the 

 Hunted by Thompson-Seton; "First Book of Birds," Miller, p. 81; 

 "Blizzard and Three Sparrows That Lived in the House," from True 

 Bird Stories by Miller; "The English Sparrow," a poem by Forsyth in 

 Songs of Nature, p. 233, 



