SPARROWS AND OTHER FINCHES 63 



with difficulty. However, I moved the roll 

 quite close up to the glass of the window, 

 leaving the top still uncovered (and the 

 bottom closed) as before. Tom-tits came to 

 it in its new position almost as readily as 

 when on the food-stand. Great-tits came 

 but were always rather uneasy about it, but 

 not one sparrow ventured to clamber down 

 inside the roll, although it was there for more 

 than a year and we had some very hard frosts. 

 They would continually try to get at the food 

 from underneath and from the side, but could 

 not make up their minds to go inside the roll 

 itself, although it was quite open and they 

 had learnt to go in without scruple when it 

 was on the food-stand, before it was put close 

 to the window. The most fearless of any 

 birds with regard to this wire roll were two 

 robins in the beginning of 1902 ; they were 

 perpetually scrambling up and down inside 

 the wire, and continued to do so until April, 

 when the supply of food came to end. 



The extreme caution of sparrows enables 

 one to scare them away for a time by a 

 fluttering ribbon or a bit of paper, but it is 

 only for a time; when they see that tits treat 

 such things with contempt and venture close 

 to them with impunity they soon summon up 

 courage to lay aside their suspicions. 



I once put a wire rat-trap under the food- 

 stand, so arranged that it went off when a 

 string was pulled. At first, it was baited with 



