Il6 NATURE STUDY. 
minds were all made up, when we began our observations, 
that the English sparrows would commonly be the aggres¬ 
sors and that we should have to defend the poor native birds 
from their ferocious onsets. This we have very rarely been 
called upon to do. On the other hand, certain birds of 
other species have given exhibitions of temper and of self¬ 
ishness far in excess of anything the sparrows have shown. 
The chipping sparrow is spunky, but not ugly. He will 
fight for his own, but he will be fair with others. The 
bird which has carried off the palm for greediness and sel¬ 
fishness is, could you believe it, no other than dear, gentle, 
sweet, lovable robin-redbreast! We have come almost to 
dislike him, after seeing him, year after year, drive every¬ 
thing else away from the pool and crouch down in it by the 
quarter hour at a time, as if for the special purpose of annoy¬ 
ing the rest. And he is selfish even among his own kind, 
driving away another robin vigorously unless the new comer 
happens to be a bit the stronger, and drives him away in¬ 
stead! So the robin has proved to be extremely ill man¬ 
nered, and the English sparrow at least as well mannered 
as the average bird. 
It is a pity that Passer domesticus should have to be 
known as the “English” sparrow. He is no more Eng¬ 
lish than he is Irish or French or Russian or Asiatic. It 
is not impossible that Anglophobia may be to some degree 
responsible for his ill reputation. “What’s in a name?” 
O! volumes of prejudice may be embodied in seven letters 
artfully put together! 
In conclusion. The “unmitigated” is, beyond question, 
a most interesting bird. He is imitative and inquisitive. 
He can be made to sing admirably in confinement. As to 
his inquisitiveness, we have had very amusing illustrations 
of that. To our tall European birch there have come for 
several years, in spring and fall, one or more sapsuckers. 
They have bored hundreds of holes in the bark, and in fact 
