78 SPAEEOW. 



The gentleman himself having returned home about nine 

 o'clock, he procured a ladder, wherewith he ascended to the 

 window, in order to ascertain the cause of the disturbance, 

 when he found it to be a Common House Sparrow, busily 

 tapping with its beak at one of the low panes. He took 

 the little bird in his hand it offered no resistance brought 

 it down with him, and put it in a cage, where it remained 

 all night. On the following morning he took out the bird 

 for the purpose of bringing it to me; but supposing it 

 unable to fly, from the circumstance of its having allowed 

 itself to be taken, he permitted it to leap out of his hand; 

 which accomplished, it flew away, and has never since repeated 

 its visit.' 



In the same magazine, pages 2351-2, Mr. William H. 

 Tugwell appropriately gives the following remarkable instance 

 of sagacity in the Common House Sparrow: 'This morning,' 

 November 24th., 1848, 'it happened that a Sparrow had got 

 his head fixed between two tiles, which were placed perpen- 

 dicularly against a wall in our garden, so as to completely 

 prevent its extricating itself, when, on being discovered by 

 its companions, several of them, by their united efforts, 

 endeavoured to extricate him by laying hold of his head 

 with their beaks and flying backwards, but without effecting 

 their purpose. Their earnest solicitude for their brother in 

 affliction, coupled with the awkwardness of the position, soon 

 caused the death of the unfortunate bird. After extricating 

 him by means of a pole, I found the head quite bared of 

 the feathers, so earnest were his mates in their attempts to 

 release him.' 



So again, 'An unfortunate Sparrow,' says Bishop Stanley, 

 'who had also been made prisoner in his own nest, met with 

 a very different fate, being actually killed, instead of preserved, 

 by the over-zealous kind attentions of his mate. The case 

 occurred in the spring of 1818, in Surrey. The pair were 

 in search of a place for building their nest; and the male 

 bird finding a tempting hole among the tiles of the roof, got 

 into it; unfortunately he became entangled in the broken 

 mortar, and could not force his way back. The female saw 

 his situation, and after flying backwards several times, twit- 

 tering, and apparently in great distress, attempted to pull 

 him out. Several birds were attracted by the accident, and 

 came fluttering round, but were beaten off by the hen 

 Sparrow. She then redoubled her own efforts to get him 



