EXOTIC BIRDS FOR BRITAIN. 
101 
to the same genus as that dismal croaker the wood- 
pigeon, that have exceedingly good voices, in which 
the peculiar mournful dove-melody has reached its 
highest perfection — weird and passionate strains, 
surging and ebbing, and startling the hearer with 
their mysterious resemblance to human tones. Or 
a Zenaida might be preferred for its tender lament, 
so wild and exquisitely modulated, like sobs 
etherealized and set to music, and passing away in 
sigh-like sounds that seem to mamic the aerial 
voices of the wind. 
When considering the character of our bird 
population with a view to its improvement, one 
cannot but think much, and with a feeling almost 
of dismay, of the excessive abundance of the 
sparrow. A systematic persecution of this bird 
would probably only serve to make matters worse, 
since its continued increase is not the cause but an 
effect of a corresponding decrease in other more 
useful and attractive species; and if Nature is to 
have her way at all there must be birds; and 
besides, no bird-lover has any wish to see such a 
thing attempted. The sparrow has his good points, 
if we are to judge him as we find him, without 
allowing what the Australians and Americans say 
of him to prejudice our minds. Possibly in those 
distant countries he may be altogether bad, 
resembling, in this respect, some of the emigrants 
