SPARROW. 87 



requires it. The materials just mentioned, as also any others 

 that may meet the requirements of the bird, are variously 

 disposed and arranged together, according to circumstances. 

 Dove-cotes and pigeon-houses are frequently built in, and the 

 same situation is continued to be resorted to, and this even 

 when the young have been exposed to misfortune from rain. 

 It would appear that trees are built in more from necessity 

 than choice, namely, by yearling birds which commence nidi- 

 fication late, by which time convenient places in walls have 

 been pre-occupied; or by individuals which from some cause 

 or other, had been obliged to give up the latter localities. 

 Fewer broods in the year are produced therefore in the case 

 of nests in trees, both from their being commenced later in 

 the season, and from their requiring naturally more time in 

 the construction: they are accordingly better made. Mr. 

 Meyer describes one which was handsomely built of moss, 

 grass, and lichens, and neatly lined with hair. The entrance 

 in these cases is by the side, and the interior is profusely 

 lined with feathers. 



The late Dr. Stanley, Bishop of Norwich, in his entertaining 

 work so often before referred to, writes, "Then for his nest 

 while other birds must select their own accustomed spots, 

 the similar tree or bush, the same materials, etc., the 

 Sparrow, like a bird who knows the world, is everywhere at 

 home, and ready to establish himself wherever chance may 

 happen to place him. If he lives remote from towns and 

 cities, and the habitations of man, a tree answers his purpose, 

 and a comfortable nest he will there build, with the rare 

 addition of an arched top into the bargain, which possibly 

 he may have learned from that knowing bird, the Magpie. 

 In default of a tree or a house, a chink in a rock or a 

 hole in a wall suits him; but after all, the nooks and eaves 

 of buildings are his favourite resorts; accordingly in London, 

 where he has his choice, he will often select droll places 

 amidst the carved foliage of some Corinthian column a pro- 

 jection of straws, with now and then a feather, announces a 

 nest in preparation. 



But some London Sparrows aspire still higher, one pair 

 having actually built in the Lion's mouth, over Northumber- 

 land House, at Charing Cross. A still more extraordinary 

 place was pitched upon by a north-country couple: A coal 

 vessel from Newcastle put into Nairn, in Scotland, and while 

 there, two Sparrows were frequently observed to alight on 



