70 HILLSIDE, ROCK, AND DALE 



inflicts one or two vigorous pecks ; but these have 

 little effect, he takes them as a lover might a kiss. 

 The enraged hen now catches hold of him by the 

 scruff of the neck that is, she holds a bunch of his 

 neck feathers in her beak and actually swings him 

 round, then she shakes her head violently, almost 

 pulling the feathers out ; and poor Cock Sparrow now 

 cheeps and chows in distress, but he is too much in 

 love to retaliate. 



The hen is evidently very angry, and after a little 

 more punishment, she releases and hops round him, 

 "talking" like any angry woman, and no doubt 

 telling him not to make a fool of himself, but to get 

 on with nest -building. Such is a comical little 

 incident in Sparrow Town ; yet the most remarkable 

 thing was the meek way in which the male took 

 his correction. 



The fights for the hens are the first things of 

 importance in Sparrow Town. Then, like the school- 

 boys' marbles, they suddenly stop, and all is tranquil. 

 Nest-building now comes on apace. Birds are seen 

 on the garden beds, picking up pieces of dried grasses, 

 sometimes as much as they can fly away with ; while 

 others travel to and from the fowl-run, choosing the 

 softest feathers and taking these to the nest. 



Then comes the time when the eggs are laid, and 

 we see little of the hens. But the males show what 

 good mates they are, for from sunrise to sunset they 



