38 THE HOUSE SPARROW. 



greed is soon in the ascendant, and a quarrel ensues. 

 The same unhappy condition of affairs occurs when a 

 pair of birds or a family group has most fortunately 

 come across an article of luxury, and is disturbed by the 

 approach of strangers who endeavor to wrest from them 

 the much coveted booty. 



But it is not so much on account of these family diffi- 

 culties that our repugnance to the sparrow arises. Do 

 not our native species, in many instances, have their 

 domestic infelicities, less bitter and less lasting though 

 they be? It is mainly owing to its domineering and 

 insolent hearing towards the latter that we detest the 

 sparrow. Who has not witnessed frequent manifesta- 

 tions of the hostile conduct of this foreigner? In the 

 spring, when our migrants return from their winter 

 homes to the scenes of conjugal bliss and domestic feli- 

 city, they are received by these strangers with the most 

 perfect coolness and stolid apathy. Should they ven- 

 ture to take up their quarters in places rendered sacred 

 and dear by the associations of the past, they are instantly 

 beset and driven away. Their former territory has been 

 taken possession of, and they must look elsewhere. A 

 near approach to accustomed haunts is sure to be found 

 out, and instant vengeance wreaked upon their te- 

 merity. These birds lay claims to occupied spots, and 

 prepare to defend them at all hazards. What individual 

 courage cannot accomplish is effected by stratagem, or 

 by combination. Many of our most useful birds are 

 objects of these unmerited assaults, and unable to cope 

 with prodigious numbers are compelled to forsake ac- 

 customed sites for less congenial places. The lawns and 

 groves which surround the residences of opulence, that 

 once rang with the merry notes of the robin and song 



