164 TALKS ABOUT BIRDS 



I was told, the Java sparrows reared so many 

 young ones that presently it was " all Javas " ; 

 then the owners would catch up a lot of 

 them and turn them loose. Then after a 

 time the Javas would be " over-represented " 

 again, and out would go another batch, and 

 so on. But in India the Java sparrow has 

 not had much chance of getting a settlement 

 in the towns, as every hole and crevice is 

 likely to be " booked " already by the house- 

 sparrow, as it is here. 



Although in the northern part of the 

 United States they had no common little 

 town bird, which is why they brought our 

 sparrow over, this was not so in California 

 and Mexico, where there is a bird which lives 

 about houses and is called the house -finch 

 or linnet. It is, indeed, nearly related to our 

 linnet, and is a streaky-brown bird of about 

 a sparrow's size ; the cock is a prettier bird 

 than a sparrow, as he has a bright crimson 

 forehead and throat, and he is also a singer. 

 Americans have taken this bird to the Sand- 

 wich Islands, so, like the house-sparrow and 

 the Java sparrow, he has got a lift in the 

 world from his human friends. 



