W2 BIRDS IN LONDON 



tliinii' for some foreign bird to escape from its 

 cage on l^oard ship and to take refuge in the 

 trees and gardens of the Tower, but woe to the 

 escaped captive and stranger in a strange land 

 who seeks safety in such a place ! Immediately 

 on his arrival the sparrows are all up against 

 him, not to ' heave half a Ijrick at him,' since 

 they are not made that way, but to hunt him 

 from place to place until they have driven him, 

 weak with fatigue and terror, into a corner 

 where they can finish him with their l)ludgeon 

 beaks. 



This violence towards strangers of the Tower 

 sparrow is not to be wondered at, since this 

 unpleasant disposition or habit is common to 

 manv species. The prophet Jeremiah had 

 observed it when he said, ' Mhie heritage is 

 unto me as a speckled l)ird, the birds round 

 about are against her.' To the Tower spar- 

 rows every feathered stranger is conspicuously 

 speckled, and they are against lier. Th(^ wonder 

 is that tliey should keep u}) tlieir [)erpetual little 

 teasing warfare against tlie pigeons and starlings, 

 their neighbours from time innuemorial. One 

 would have imagined that so intelligent and 

 practical a ])ird as the s])arro\v, :\\'\rv vainly trying 



