342 THE LIFE OF A BIRD. 



of eggs in the season. In order to rear these, 

 frequently a new nest is constructed for each 

 brood, but in other cases all are brought up 

 in the same nest. A gentleman resident at 

 Hackney has kept for some years a number of 

 smaller singing birds in a large aviary, where 

 among others are several pairs of skylarks. The 

 degree of perfection in which he manages his 

 favourites, and the total absence of any influence 

 of fear or restraint on their habits, may be learned 

 by the fact that in the summer of 1836 a pair of 

 skylarks produced four sets of eggs, and in 1837 

 the same pair produced three sets of eggs, and 

 reared some of their young. The song-sparrow, 

 to whose cleanliness allusion was just made, is one 

 of the most abundant birds in Louisiana of its 

 tribe. This abundance is easily accounted for by 

 the circumstance that it rears three broods in 

 the year. The first brood generally consists of 

 six nestlings, the next of five, and the third of 

 three, making in all fourteen birds from a single 

 pair in the year. If we suppose such a couple to 

 live in health and enjoy the comforts necessary 

 for the bringing up of their young families for 

 a period of only a few years, it is easily con- 



