THE SPARROW. 97 



and gathers his food or takes his pleasure entirely regard- 

 less of the inhabitants of the house against which he builds. 

 The sparrow, on the contrary, would just as lief place his 

 nest near a house as on it. He will build in a disused chim- 

 ney, or a gutter, or rain-pipe ; but if none of these places suit 

 his fancy, he will establish his nest in the ivy covered wall 

 near at hand, or in a clump of bushes, and, having so built, 

 he proceeds to get at once benefit and amusement from his 

 human neighbours. He regards their fruit trees and rows 

 of peas as planted for his special benefit. He sits on the 

 edge of the roof and observes man as he walks in his 

 garden with evident interest and amusement, and discusses 

 his peculiarities loudly and volubly with a friend on an ad- 

 joining roof. He is quite fearless of man's presence, and will 

 pursue his search for insects on the lawn within a few feet 

 of him ; and he relies confidently upon receiving offerings of 

 food in hard, frosty weather in return for his friendship. 

 He alone, of birds, makes himself thoroughly at home in the 

 crowded streets, perfectly fearless of passing vehicles. He 

 is gregarious by habit, and it is to be remarked that there 

 is nothing selfish about him. Throw out a handful of 

 crumbs upon the snow, and its first discoverer will joyously 

 call his mates to share in it ; and if fights do occasionally 

 arise over the division, it is apparent that there is no malice 

 about them, but that, like the Irish, the sparrow fights from 

 high spirits and " a love of divarshun." 



While the sparrow is favourably viewed by the dwellers 

 of towns and their suburbs, it must be owned that he 

 is not regarded in the same light in the agricultural 

 districts. He is eminently a Socialist, and inclines to the 

 doctrine of equal rights. When he is comparatively few in 

 iv. L.-VII. 



