78 BOMBAY DUCKS 
nity of seeing the sparrow at his best, for there he is 
nearly always begrimed with soot and dust, but in India 
we can distinguish the smart grey crown that adorns 
his head, and his white shirt-front and black tie. The 
female is of course a homely-looking bird. 
Where the sparrow makes a mistake is in imagining 
that he is a fine singer. Any one who could disabuse 
his mind on this point would be rendering a great 
service, not only to mankind, but to the whole of the 
bird world. This I fear is an impossible task. Until 
the end of the chapter the sparrow will continue to 
think that he alone of all birds can sing, and to look 
upon the vocal attempts of all other birds as imper- 
tinent imitations of his voice! 
In this world one, or more, of three things are 
necessary to ensure success. These are ability, impu- 
dence, and a friend at court. Of the three, ability is by 
far the least important, and may, I think, be neglected, 
Impudence, on the other hand, may, without much ex- 
aggeration, be said to be the one thing needful to 
succeed in this wicked world. 
Of this invaluable quality the sparrow has an in- 
exhaustible supply. He is the most successful bird in 
the world. He is the most numerous fowl in Asia and 
in Europe. He has invaded America and taken the 
country by storm. He is the revenge of the Old 
World for the Yankee invasion, The sparrow has 
lately extended his kingdom to Australia and New 
Zealand, where he is now one of the commonest of 
birds. But for the fact that young sparrow is a dish 
highly esteemed by the crow, the whole of India would 
