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SPARROWS ON OUR BILL OF FARE. 



We read, ' are not two sparrows sold for a farthing ?' and 

 again, ' are not five sparrows sold for two farthings ?' — a 

 proportion in favour of the larger- purchase. In some 

 countries on the Continent large numbers of small birds, 

 including beautiful singing-birds unfortunately, are offered 

 for sale in the poultry markets. English people, as a 

 rule, look down on this sort of fare. A sparrow is a poor 

 meal for a man to sit down to ! True, but a score or so 

 of the birds, when they are fat and in season during the 

 autumn, make a very toothsome pie. And ' sparrows,' 

 says an excellent cookery book, ' are excellent eating, if 

 cooked in the same way as larks.''^' Our American 

 friends, we learn, have taken to sparrow-pie lately, 

 thereby diminishing the number of these destructive 

 birds, and making an agreeable addition to their bill of 

 fare. Our friends in the country will do good all round 

 if they do the same, and induce others to follow the 

 example. 



In Lorraine I have seen circular earthenware pots 

 hung up against the walls of cottages in several villages, 

 for the house sparrow to nest in — the intention being to 

 eat the young ones. 



J. H. G., JUNR. 



* ' Modern Domestic Cookery, ' Murray. 



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