Some Odd Bits of Bird Life 69 



undue attention to them in case he were admitted to com- 

 radeship ? 



I have spoken elsewhere of the albino bobolink who was 

 refused the companionship of his kind by all save one gentle 

 bird whom he wooed and won for a mate. The bobolink was 

 almost pure white while the crow's color was normal save 

 for the small white patch on his black back. Birds, however, 

 seem to regard the slightest variation from Nature's color rule 

 as a disgrace to their kind. I met Jim during two seasons 

 when the other crows were paired and keeping house. He 

 was unquestionably leading a bachelor existence. Twice I 

 saw other crows go out of their way to attack him, but 

 despite his unhappy and lonely lot he clings tenaciously to 

 life and only recently I have seen him foraging for food in 

 the northern Illinois cornfields. 



There is no love in my heart for the English sparrow. 

 I have seen his persecution of our native birds until I 

 cannot summon up a particle of sympathy for him, no matter 

 into what straits he may come. I confess to a secret re- 

 joicing every time a predatory shrike strikes a sparrow and 

 trusses him for breakfast. The Britisher has a busy time all 

 winter dodging the butcher-bird, and even after the enemy 

 has gone to its northern home the sparrow trembles at pass- 

 ing shadows. I was idly watching a flock of sparrows one 

 summer day feeding at the edge of the Lake Shore Drive in 

 Chicago. Suddenly every individual in the flock crouched 

 close to the ground, and then all rose like a feathered entity 

 and made for shelter. No sparrow nor gathering of sparrows 

 ever made a quicker movement than did that flock. The 

 journey from the ground to the thickness of an evergreen 

 tree standing in the grounds of a private residence, was made 



