SPARROWS IN THE NURSERY 17 



the youngster was as full up inside as the Hammersmith 

 'bus on a wet day, I told the bearer to put it in the 

 cage in which my amadavats dwell. When I left for 

 office I directed the man to feed the new arrival. On 

 my return in the evening the bearer informed me that 

 the young hopeful had declined its food. Now, a young 

 sparrow refuses to eat only when it is stuffed to the 

 brim. It was thus evident that its parents had found it 

 out and were feeding it, in spite of the fact that the nest 

 from which it came was in the pantry on the east side 

 of the house, while its new quarters were in the west 

 verandah. 



The next day a second sparrow fell out of the nest in 

 the pantry and was also consigned to the amadavats' 

 cage. At bed -time that night I took a look at the 

 birds, and found that the two young sparrows had 

 tucked themselves snugly in the seed tin ! The next 

 morning a third sparrow from the same nest was 

 brought to me ; it was put in the cage along with 

 its brethren. As my office was closed on the day in 

 question, I had the cage placed in front of my study 

 window. I could thus watch the doings of the latest 

 additions to my aviary. The hen sparrow does the 

 lion's share of the feeding ; she works like a slave from 

 morning to night. At intervals, varying from one to 

 ten minutes, throughout the day she appears with a 

 beakful of food, which consists chiefly of green cater- 

 pillars. 



It is the custom to speak of the sparrow as a curse to 

 the husbandman. The bird is popularly supposed to 

 live on grain, fruit, seedlings, and buds — those of 

 c 



