108 BIRDS IN LONDON 



bit of string, a chip of wood, a scrap of paper, 

 white or blue or yellow, or a rag, or even a 

 penny piece, and at the first sight of it away 

 they will dart, and not return until the dangerous 

 object has been removed. A pigeon or starling 

 would come and take the food without paying 

 any attention to the strange object which so 

 startled the sparrow. They are less cunning. 

 Without doubt there are many boys and men in all 

 parts of London who amuse themselves by trying 

 to take sparrows, and the result of their attempts 

 is that the birds decline to trust anyone. 



In this extreme suspiciousness, and in their 

 habits generally, all sparrows appear pretty 

 much alike to us. When we come to know 

 them intimately, in the domestic state, we find 

 that there is as much individual character in 

 sparrows as in other highly intelligent creatures. 

 The most interesting tame sparrow I have known 

 in London was the pet of a lady of my acquaint- 

 ance. This bird, however, was not a cockney 

 sparrow from the nest : he was hatched on the 

 other side of the Channel, and his owner rescued 

 him, when young and scarce able to fly, from 

 some street urchins in a suburb of Paris, who 

 were playing with and tormenting him. In his 



