SPARROWS STEALING NESTS. 18'J 



was somewhat spread out) through which she could 

 see, hid her and her nest most effectually from 

 view. 



I fear that, from an ethical point of view, the 

 actions of many birds during the breeding season 

 would not present a very edifying spectacle. I 

 have seen a stable with upwards of forty Martins' 

 nests under its eaves, half of which were occupied 

 by Sparrows. Many of them were, of course, old 

 ones, which had been confiscated between the de- 

 parture and return of their rightful owners, but 

 others had been forcibly occupied directly they 

 were built. Indeed, I have witnessed a pair of 

 Sparrows steal a Martin's nest before the outer 

 wall of mud had actually been completed. If 

 they happen to find eggs in a nest they have 

 decided to raid they eject them, and I strongly 

 suspect the young too, from the unfeathered little 

 creatures I have found dead upon the ground 

 directly beneath their nests. That Sparrows will 

 also endeavour to steal each other's nests we have 

 satisfactorily proved. Last spring my brother 

 fixed a small box up against a brick wall just out- 

 side his bedroom window, in order that, with his 

 camera hidden behind the curtains, he might make 

 some photographic studies of the old birds feeding 

 their young. During May a pair of birds took 

 possession of the quarters prepared for their accom- 

 modation, and in due time a cosy nest containing 

 five speckled eggs was the result. All went well 

 until another pair of birds of the same species cast 

 envious eyes upon the little wooden box with a 

 neat round hole in front. One morning a fierce 

 battle was the result, and when it was over, and 

 the prodigious din had subsided, two broken eggs 

 lay upon the window sill, a third on the garden 



