66 THE HOUSE SPARROW. 



When the young have attained the age of from twelve 

 to thirteen days, they quit the nest, but are still fed by 

 the parents from ten to eleven days longer, when they 

 are sufficiently matured to shift for themselves. Paren- 

 tal affection permits them to linger about their homes, 

 and where conveniences exist, they are allowed to seek 

 shelter, during inclement weather and winter nights, 

 in the boxes and hollows which served them as nests 

 during their helpless stage of existence. 



Generally, three broods are annually raised. In- 

 stances are known to the writer where preparations 

 were making for a fourth brood, when the designs of 



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the birds were frustrated by human interference. 



During the prevalence of cold weather, at nights, and 

 even in the warmer seasons of the year, in the daytime 

 when the rain is descending in torrents, almost any con- 

 venience is appropriated for roosting purposes. Hollow 

 trees, ivy vines, boxes, eaves of buildings, and outhouses, 

 are common places of resort. In rural districts, barracks 

 and haystacks afford cosy and comfortable quarters. 



In some portions of Philadelphia immense numbers 

 take refuge in the ivy. In the writer's neighborhood, es- 

 pecially upon the north side of the mansion of Mr. John 

 Button, carefully protected from cold winds and pelting 

 storms by surrounding dwellings, within an extensive 

 vine which covers the entire gable-end, at least a hundred 

 sparrows find comfortable lodgings. The ceaseless clatter 

 which the birds produce during early morning, and in 

 the evening, is almost deafening. During the breeding- 

 period, the vine is literally filled with nests. In asserting 

 that fifty pairs and upward nidificate within its limits, 

 the writer cannot be accused of misrepresentation or ex- 

 aggeration. Notwithstanding the petty quarrels which 



