140 THE FRIENDSHIP OF NATURE 



were laid, she allowed me to bend 

 down the branch, and a few days 

 later, to smooth her head gently with 

 my finger. A chipping sparrow added 

 his wee nest to the collection, watching 

 the horses as they passed, timidly crav- 

 ing a hair from each, and finally secur- 

 ing a tuft from an old mattress, with 

 which he lined his home to his com- 

 plete content. 



If you would keep the wild birds in 

 your garden, you must exclude from it 

 four things : English sparrows, the usual 

 gardeners, cats, and firearms. These 

 sparrows, even if not belligerent, are 

 antagonistic to song birds, and brawl 

 too much; a cat of course, being a cat, 

 carries its own condemnation; a gun 

 aimed even at a target brings terror 

 into bird-land; and a gardener, of the 

 type that mostly bear the name, is a 

 sort of bogyman, as much to Nature- 



