HOUSE SPARROW. 307 



host of friends to their assistance, the intruders were for a time 

 driven off, but only to return again with renewed energj' and perse- 

 verance. The swallows were now sorely beset, for one had to remain 

 on guard while the other went in search of supplies. Still they 

 managed to hold the fort till the enemy, watching his opportunity, 

 made a strategic movement from the rear and darted into the box 

 more quickly than I can tell it. He emerged with a callow swallow 

 hanging by the nape of the neck in his bill, and dropped it on the 

 ground below. Another soon followed, amid the distressing cries of 

 the swallows, who, seeing their hopes so completely blighted, sat 

 mute and mournful on the ridge of the house for a short time, and 

 then went away from the place, leaving the sparrows in undisputed 

 possession of the box. There they remained and raised some young 

 ones during the summei-. 



In the spring of the following year the numbers had increased, 

 and they began to roost under the veranda around the house, which 

 brought frequent complaints from, the sanitary department, and a 

 protest was made against their being allowed to remain there at all. 

 Still, in view of the prospective riddance of insect pests from the 

 garden, matters were arranged with the least possible disturbance to 

 the birds, and we even stood by and saw them dislodge a pair of 

 house wrens who had for years been in possession of a box fixed for 

 them in an apple tree in the garden. So the second year wore on, 

 no further notice being taken of the sparrows except that they were 

 getting more numerous. 



I had missed the sprightly song and lively manners of the wrens, 

 and in the spring when they came round again seeking admission to 

 their old home, I killed the sparrows, which were in possession, in 

 order to give the wrens a chance, and they at once took advantage 

 of it and commenced to carry up sticks in their usual industrious 

 manner. They had enjoyed possession only for two days, however, 

 when they were again dislodged. Again the intruders were killed 

 off, and domestic felicity reigned for three days, when a third pair 

 of sparrows came along bent on the same object, and, if. possible, 

 more overbearing and determined than their predecessors. This 

 time I thought of a 'different mode of accomplishing the object in 

 view, and, taking down the box at night, nailed a shingle over the 

 end and worked it flush around the edges. With a centre-bit I then 

 pierced a hole just large enough to admit the wrens, but too small 

 for the sparrows, and put the box back into its place. Early in the 

 morning the assault was renewed, but the wrens found at once that 



