CH. XXX. SPARROWS. 163 



they delight in holes in thatched roofs or in corn- 

 stacks, while in less populous localities they build 

 almost wholly in trees, and even in hedges not 

 many feet from the ground, keeping, however, a 

 watchful and knowing eye to the security of the 

 place they fix upon for their loosely-made and con- 

 spicuous nest. There seems to be one sine qud 

 non in the choice of their abode, and that is the 

 vicinity of man. Sparrows never wander very far 

 from houses and towns ; in fact this bird appears to 

 be more at home on the roof of a house in the 

 midst of a populous city than in any other situation. 

 Basking in the sun on a lofty wall or house-top, 

 a flock of sparrows look down upon the crowded 

 streets with a pert, impudent air, chattering and 

 chirping to each other as if making their remarks 

 on the busy throng below them, and seem as per- 

 fectly at their ease in the midst of the noise, bustle, 

 and smoke, as the impudent set of schoolboys who 

 look up at them with a longing eye. 



