240 CLASS AVES. 



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Birds which come of their accord, like the sparrows, to 

 form a sort of society with man, are of course gifted with 

 all the dispositions for a more intimate association. The 

 sparrows are easily reared in cages ; accustom themselves to 

 captivity, without difficulty; are sufficiently docile to obey 

 the voice, to receive their food from the hand which pre- 

 sents it, to suffisr themselves to be taken up, touched, and 

 caressed. But their being tamed thus, proceeds from their 

 natural boldness, and from the facility with which they 

 find the means, in captivity, of satisfying their voracity. 

 They are but little susceptible of affection. They do not 

 understand, like the canary, how to excite caresses, to return 

 them with sensibility, to exhibit symptoms of joy on the ap- 

 proach of a being whom they love, or of grief at their 

 absence. Without anything like sentiment in their love 

 with each other, it cannot be supposed that they are capa- 

 ble of friendship. 



A^arious accounts have been given relative to the duration 

 of life in the sparrows. Some allow them only two years of 

 existence; others say four, and some even eight years. 

 These assertions appear to be none of them well founded. 

 The sparrows live much longer than is generally imagined. 

 M. Sonnini knew one of these birds to live four-and-twenty 

 years in captivity, and even then it died accidentally. The 

 warmth of their temperament may, in a state of liberty, con- 

 tribute to abridge their existence ; but we may presume, 

 with every appearance of reason, that they pass the bounds 

 usually allotted to them by authors. 



The gluttony of the sparrows is equal to their petulance. 

 They feed alike on the first fruits which ripen in orchards, 

 on the grain sown in the fields, and on those which the farmer 

 has gathered into his barn and storehouses. They also eat 

 caterpillars, locusts, flies, and various other insects. But 

 this taste, which is only secondary with the sparrows, renders 



