246 THE REASON WHY I 



" The sparrow, meanest of the feathered race, 

 His fit companion finds in every place." COWPER. 



750. The seeds of the pines, which, until the cone has heen exposed to the action 



of the weather for a consider- 

 able time after the seeds are 

 ripe, are so firmly enclosed 

 between the ligneous scales as 

 to prevent the bill of an ordi- 

 nary bird from reaching them 

 This bill consists of a very 

 powerful pair of levers, by 

 means of which the scales can 

 be wrenched open, and the 

 seeds arrived at in a mannei 

 the most effective. When the 

 two sharp points are brought 

 together, they can be inserted 

 into a very small opening, in which, the instant that they begin to operate, each takes 

 hold like a hook, and tends to draw itself in ; thus cutting open in the direction of 

 the face or plane of the scale, while by their action upon each other they press it 

 open by the power of a double wedge ; and by the time that the mandibles have 

 crossed to their full extent, the scale is so completely raised that the seed can be 

 taken from under it with the greatest ease. The position into which the oblique 

 action of the bill brings the head enables the bird to see the seed under the scale, 

 and while the mandibles keep the scale open, the tongue of the bird scoops out the 

 seed. The tongue is as curious as the mandibles. It terminates in a horny gouge, 

 supported by a bone, and furnished with muscles, by which it can be raised or 

 depressed so as to act as an independent instrument. The motion of the bill 

 divides a soft and pulpy substance with remarkable facility ; and when the birds 

 visit orchards, which they sometimes do in the autumn, they cut the apples 

 asundei, in order to get at the pips, with almost as great a nicety as one would 

 use a knife. 



751. W-hy are sparrows useful to vegetation ? 



Because they devour myriads of insects which would otherwise 

 do infinite injury ; this is particularly the case when they have 

 young ones, all of which are fed with insects and caterpillars. 



752. Why is the sparrow bolder, and less fearful of being 

 caught or killed, than most otlur birds ? 



Because its location in the neighbourhood of populous towns and 

 cities renders it accmtomed to man, who, on his part, being intent 

 on other matters, passes hourly within a few yards of this bird 

 without ever giving it a thought. 



