THli si'AliKiiW. S-Z'i 



And W\> diK' act ol' cU'iiU'iicy will tcafli 



His heart a lesson that shall widen it : 



For nothini;- makes so briffht the soul, as when 



Pity doth temper wisdom." 



" We have scarcely," says Mr. Knapp, " another bird, llie appetite of wliieh is so 

 iiccommodatiug in all respects, as tliat of the hoTise-sparrow. It is, I believe, the only 

 bird that is a voluntary inhabitant with man, lives in his socict}', and is his constant 

 attendant, following- him wherever he fixes his residence. It becomes immediately an 

 inhabitant of the new farm-house, in a lonely place or recent inclosuie, or even in an 

 island ; will accompany him in the crowded city, and build and feed there in content, 

 munindfid of noise, the snroke of the furnace, or the steam-engine, where even the 

 swallow and the martin, that ilock around him in the country, are scared by the tumult 

 :ind leave him ; but the sparrow, though begrimed with soot, does not forsake him"; 

 feeds on his food, rice, potatoes, and almost any other extraneous substance he may find 

 in the street ; looks to him for his sujiport, and is maintained almost entirely by the 

 industry and providence of man. It is not known in a solitary and independent state." 



Of the care and aflfection of birds for their young, jMr. Graves, in his " British 

 Ornithology," gives lis a pleasing instance. It occurred in the case of a pair of sparrows 

 tliat had built their nest in a wall contiguous to his residence. 



Having noticed that the parent birds continued to bring food to the nest for some 

 months after the brood had left; it, he had the ciuiosity to jjlace a ladder against the wall 

 for the purpose of ascertainuig the o?,use, when to his surprise he foimd a full-grown bird 

 in the nest, which had got its leg completely entangled in some thrc.id which had formed 

 part of the abode, in such a manner as to entirely prevent its flight with tlic rest. 

 Wishing to see how long the industry of the old birds would be- extended in behalf of 

 their imprisoned offspring, he left the bird and the nest in the state he found it in, and 

 observed that the parent birds continued to supplj' food during the whole of the autumn 

 aiid some part of the winter months ; but tlie weather setting in very severe soon after 

 Christmas, fearing the severity of the weather would occasion the death of the imprisoned 

 bird, he disengaged its leg, and in a day or two it accompanied the old ones in search of 

 food ; but the}' continued to feed it till the month of JIarch, and during the whole time 

 they all nestled in the same spot. 



THE tri-:t5 sparrow.* 



This is a smaller and more tender bird than the house- sparrow. It is also more light 

 and lively, and perches with the axis of the body more erect. Its nest resembles that 

 of the other, except it has often withered grass instead of straw. It contains about five 

 eggs, and is usually found in holes of decayed trees. 



In their wild state, these birds are foimd not only throughout Europe, but also in the 

 north of Asia and America^ In Germany and England the tree-sparrow is not so 

 common as the house^sparroWj for in some provuices it is never seen. It frequents 

 gardenS) orchardsj and fields abounding with trees and hedges. In September large 

 flights are seen feeding on the ripe fields of barle}' and oats. 



It is only kept in a cage in comitries where it is very rare. Its song is less short and 

 monotonous than that of the house-sparrow, but it is weak, and " where it might be 

 sweet," saj'S Bechstein, " it is lost among other songs of the room." 



' ryr;;itu Muntauii 



