THE SPARROW. 



I held up the nest, and made the young ones 

 utter the cry which is expressive of the desire of 

 food. I immediately put the nest and the young 

 in the corner of a wire cage, and placed it on the 

 outside of a window. I chose a situation in a 

 room, where I could perceive all that should hap- 

 pen, without being myself seen. The young 

 animals soon cried for food. In a short time 

 both parents, having their bills filled with small 

 caterpillars, came to the cage, and after chatting 

 a little, as we should do with a friend, through 

 the lattice of a prison, gave a small worm to 

 each. This parental intercourse continued regu- 

 larly for some time, till the young ones were 

 completely fledged, and had acquired a consider- 

 able degree of strength. I then took one of the 

 strongest of them and placed him on the outside 

 of the cage, in order to observe the conduct of 

 the parents, after one of their offspring was 

 emancipated. In a few minutes both parents 

 arrived as usual, loaded with food. They no 

 sooner perceived that one of their children had 

 escaped from prison, than they fluttered about, 

 and made a thousand noisy demonstrations of 

 joy, both with their wings and voices. These 

 tumultuous expressions of unexpected happi- 

 ness, at last gave place to a more calm and 

 soothing conversation. By their voices and 



