IDLE MOMENTS. 43 



attracted my attention. The wind was almost 

 fit to master the little fellow, but he succeeded 

 in carrying aloft his building material to the 

 eave of the house. From where I sat I could see 

 the unsightly bunch of straw, yarn, worsted, 

 and other domestic material the newly-married 

 pair had gathered together with most indus- 

 trious care. 



How diligently they worked every stray 

 feather was secured, and any bit of rag lying 

 about was carried to the rapidly increasing 

 structure. Not so many days ago I had seen 

 the same cock sparrow quarrelling and fighting 

 for his mate. His rival and he met in mid- 

 air, screaming, dashing, and tearing each other, 

 and the fight was continued so fiercely after 

 reaching the ground that I was able to pick 

 up one of the combatants. In the sparrow's 

 courting days battles are of hourly occurrence. 

 All bird life is a life of war, simply a struggle 

 for existence, and nature thus selects the best 

 to propagate the species. 



