78 BOMBAY DUCKS 



nity of seeing the sparrow at his best, for there he is 

 nearly always begrimed with soot and dust, but in India 

 we can distinguish the smart grey crown that adorns 

 his head, and his white shirt-front and black tie. The 

 female is of course a homely-looking bird. 



Where the sparrow makes a mistake is in imagining 

 that he is a fine singer. Any one who could disabuse 

 his mind on this point would be rendering a great 

 service, not only to mankind, but to the whole of the 

 bird world. This I fear is an impossible task. Until 

 the end of the chapter the sparrow will continue to 

 think that he alone of all birds can sing, and to look 

 upon the vocal attempts of all other birds as imper- 

 tinent imitations of his voice ! 



In this world one, or more, of three things are 

 necessary to ensure success. These are ability, impu- 

 dence, and a friend at court. Of the three, ability is by 

 far the least important, and may, I think, be neglected. 

 Impudence, on the other hand, may, without much ex- 

 aggeration, be said to be the one thing needful to 

 succeed in this wicked world. 



Of this invaluable quality the sparrow has an in- 

 exhaustible supply. He is the most successful bird in 

 the world. He is the most numerous fowl in Asia and 

 in Europe. He has invaded America and taken the 

 country by storm. He is the revenge of the Old 

 World for the Yankee invasion. The sparrow has 

 lately extended his kingdom to Australia and New 

 Zealand, where he is now one of the commonest of 

 birds. But for the fact that young sparrow is a dish 

 highly esteemed by the crow, the whole of India would 



