rooks and crows that infest the cane- 

 brakes north of Lake Hulah. They 

 live on terms of great amity and friend- 

 liness with the beautiful "wur-war" or 

 bee-eater, which burrows in the soft 

 earth-banks near the out-go of the 

 Jordan, from the Lake of Galilee. The 

 nests of sparrow and "wur-war" are so 

 numerous and easy to reach that one 

 might easily gather a peck of their 

 tiny eggs, and unfledged nestlings, with 

 mother-bird and all, could they be of 

 use. But the Mosaic Law has a pre- 

 cept especially intended to protect the 

 "birds of the air." In one portion of 

 the inspired text he writes: "If a 

 bird's nest chances to be before thee 

 in the way, in any tree, or on the 

 ground, whether they be young ones 

 or eggs, and the dam sitting upon the 

 young, or upon the eggs, thou shalt 

 not molest the dam with the young, 

 that it may be well with thee, and that 

 thou mayest prolong thy days." You 

 will notice how clear is the precept by 

 which we are forbidden to molest these 

 nests. We must not, the biblical law 

 says, and to the obedient is the prom- 

 ised blessing of prosperity and long 

 life, with contrary calamities clearly 

 implied to those who transgress. In 

 its meaning this precept includes all 

 birds, and was intended, like many 

 other prohibitory commands, to culti- 

 vate sentiments of humanity and habits 

 of gentleness. And so it is that in 

 Bible lands the sparrow is more nu- 

 merous, and less liable to destruction, 

 than in our own streets, fields and parks, 

 where every bird of this species is an 

 object of contempt, and often lured to 

 its death, with countless thousands of 

 victims, unsuspecting and easily taken 

 like himself. 



They flit over the "field of the Shep- 

 herds." and build nests in the "cave of 

 the Nativity." They cover the fields of 

 wild oats by thousands, and chirp and 

 twitter on the hillside where "Ruth 

 went down to glean." A colony will 

 be found in every old tree on the 

 Mount of Olives, and even in the "gar- 

 den of Gethsemane," they nest in per- 

 fect security above the heads of the 

 black-robed attendants, who are on 



terms of great familiarity with them. 

 The first reference to the sparrow in 

 the Bible is an allusion to this habit of 

 the fearless bird in building its nest in 

 the most sacred places. It recalls the 

 sad and pathetic period in David's life, 

 when he fled from Jerusalem pursued 

 by the army of his son Absalom, "who 

 sought his throne and life." Afar from 

 Jerusalem, and the temple courts, where 

 he led the people in their devotions, his 

 heart longed for the peace and holy 

 calm, to be found only within their 

 sacred enclosures, and he says: "A 

 day in thy courts is better than a thou- 

 sand." "My soul longeth for thy 

 courts." "The sparrow hath found a 

 nest for herself where she may lay her 

 young, even thine altars." Thus he, 

 the great King David, wished for the 

 rest and peace enjoyed by the humble 

 birds which he had observed so often, 

 ministering to their young about the 

 holy altar itself. Again, when Absa- 

 lom falls in battle, and word is brought 

 David, in the sadness of his lament, 

 "O, Absalom, my son, my son!" He 

 compares himself to the tiny, despised 

 bird, saying: 'T watch and am as a 

 sparrow, alone upon the housetop." 

 He had, no doubt, often seen the spar- 

 row, when one had lost its mate, sitting 

 on the housetop alone, and lamenting 

 hour after hour its sad bereavement. 

 So again the sparrow is honored above 

 its fellows, and its affectionate devo- 

 tion immortalized. But a "Greater than 

 David," has drawn from this humblest 

 one of the feathered tribe, a lesson of 

 trust which has touched tenderly, in all 

 ages since, the heart of every seeker 

 after truth. "Not a sparrow falleth" 

 is a sentence that comes very close to 

 the human heart. "Not a sparrow 

 falleth to the ground without your 

 Father. Not one of them is forgotten 

 of Him. Fear not, therefore. Ye are 

 of more value than many sparrows." 



"Not a sparrow falleth," 



How sweet the words and true 

 I "Without your Father's notice," 



Who careth still for you; 

 O tiny bird, so trustful. 



Teach me such trust as thine. 

 That so the wondrous lesson 

 I may possess as mine. 



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