58 love's meinie. 



a cavern 1,500 feet out of daylight. They 

 have only, in consequence, the trouble of carry- 

 ing in the seeds to feed their young, and the 

 floor of the cave is thus covered, by the seeds 

 they let fall, with a growth of unfortunate pale 

 plants, which have never seen day. Nay, they 

 are not even content with the darkness of 

 their cave ; but build their nests in the funnels 

 with which the roof of the grotto is pierced like 

 a sieve ; live actually in the chimney, not of 

 a house, but of an Egyptian sepulchre ! The 

 colour of this bird, of so remarkable taste in 

 lodging, Humboldt tells us, is " of dark bluish- 

 grey, mixed with streaks and specks of black. 

 Large white spots, which have the form of a 

 heart, and which are bordered with black, mark 

 the head, the wings, and the tail. The spread 

 of the wings, which are composed of seventeen 

 or eighteen quill feathers, is three feet and a 

 half. Suppressing, with Mr. Cuvier, the order 

 of Picae, we must refer this extraordinary bird 

 to the SparrowsT 



56. We can only suppose that it must be, 

 to our popular sparrows, what the swallow of 

 the cinnamon country is to our subordinate 

 swallow. Do you recollect the cinnamon 



