IL-BIEDS IN LONDON. 



THE SPARROW. 



(Oct. 8, 1887.) 



THEEE is a popular theory, which, like many 

 another, is founded on error, that the sparrow 

 is the only wild bird to be found in London ; 

 and this belief, curiously enough, is held not only 

 by Londoners, who, were they really possessed 

 of eyes to see, should know better, but also by 

 most people who live in the country. There is 

 perhaps more excuse for this than for many other 

 popular fallacies, owing to the ubiquity and self- 

 assertiveness of the bird in question. Wherever 

 the sparrow is found and it is now largely dis- 

 tributed not only over the Old World but the 

 New it is, as one of our greatest ornithologists 

 has said, a parasite of man ; in fact, without 

 man it cannot live and thrive. It will, no doubt, 

 in default of better accommodation build its nest 

 in a tree, but that tree must be near a human 

 habitation, though to the sparrow it is a matter 



