BRITISH BIRDS. 247 



suppose, sufficiently repay the trivial damage they 

 may make either in the garden or the field. The 

 great table of nature is spread out alike to all, and 

 is amply stored with every thing necessary for the 

 support of the various families of the earth; it is 

 owing to the superior intelligence and industry of 

 man, that he is enabled to appropriate so large a 

 portion of the best gifts of Providence to his own 

 subsistence and comfort; let him not then grudge 

 their pittance, nor think it waste, that, in some 

 instances, creatures inferior in rank are permitted 

 to partake ; but, considering them only as the 

 tasters of his full meal, let him endeavour to 

 imitate their cheerfulness, and lift up his heart in 

 grateful effusions to HIM "who filleth all things 

 living with plenteousness." 



The Sparrow never leaves us, but is familiar to 

 the eye at all times, even in the most crowded 

 and busy parts of the town ; they build under the 

 eaves of houses, in holes of walls, and often about 

 churches. The nest is made of hay, carelessly put 

 together, and lined with feathers. The female lays 

 five or six eggs, of a reddish white, spotted with 

 brown ; she has generally three broods in the year, 

 whence the multiplication of the species must be 

 great. In autumn large flocks of them are seen 

 every where, both in town and country. Though 

 familiar, the Sparrow is a crafty bird, easily dis- 

 tinguishing the snares laid to entrap it; they often 

 mix with other birds, and not unfrequently partake 

 with the Pigeons or the poultry, in spite of every 

 precaution to prevent them. 



