44 WILD NATURE IN STRATH EARN. 



The book is now laid aside. The sparrows 

 have awakened sleeping thoughts. There is no 

 bird better known than the House Sparrow 

 (Passer Domesticus), not only in our own land r 

 but over the whole world in Africa's sunny 

 clime, in the crumbling temples of the Holy 

 Land, and in every spot where man is found, 

 He steals from the food put down to the 

 poultry. He is not above entering the pig's 

 trough, and in the stable, byre, and outhouse 

 you will find him, if he is not picking the 

 heart out of your yellow crocuses, or plucking 

 the buds off your berry bushes. He moves- 

 about amongst the carts, barrows, and vehicles 

 in the busiest streets of our large manufacturing 

 towns with a sang froid peculiar to his species. 

 He is a most impudent rascal, but makes no 

 pretence to good manners. What I admire 

 him for is his untiring industry. 



" Frae house roofs, riggin's, lums, an' trees 

 They watch for ' grub ' without dcvald ; 

 A' day they're busier far than bees, 

 Let the day be warm or cauld." 



