THE LINNET. 141 



usual insolence ; and the swallows, as if not choosing to contest the point, 

 went away. 



But presently they came back with several other swallows, each with a 

 pellet of earth in her bill. They began to wall up the nest bit by bit, with 

 the sparrow inside, as if they were bent on punishing it. Indeed, they were 

 actually seen to shut the sparrow up in its snug tomb, where it perished for 

 want of air. 



We must give some credit to the sparrow for the care it takes of its 

 young. The nest is soft and warm, and of a good size. The mother bird 

 lays from four to six eggs, of a greyish white colour, with spots of grey and 

 black. When the young birds are hatched, the parents feed them all day 

 long. Millions of caterpillars go to supply the hungry little mouths ; and 

 this is what makes the sparrow, with all its faults, a good neighbour. 



The young sparrows are sometimes in too great a hurry to come out of 

 the nest, and now and then one falls to the ground, or gets accidentally 

 pushed out. Then it gets picked up by the great enemy of the birds, the 

 cat, or, what is almost as bad, by children. If, however, the little sparrows 

 leave the nest in safety, the parents do not all at once forsake them. They 

 keep near them, and feed them for a short time. But the sparrow has more 

 broods than one in the course of the summer, and so the young birds are soon 

 left to shift for themselves. 



In the picture you see another kind of sparrow, called the tree sparrow. 

 It is smaller than the house sparrow, and not so common in England, though 

 it is plentiful enough abroad. 



THE BROWN LINNET. 



I'he linnet belongs to the family of the finches. He has the same round 

 head and strong short bill, and the same love for picking up seeds and grain. 

 He is no great musician, but he has a pleasant little song of his own, that he 

 pours forth from some twig of furze on the mountain side, while his mate is 

 brooding over her young. 



His nest is in some bush of heath, and is very neat and pretty, and is 



