THE HOUSE SPARROW. 
649 
manners and continency in a most shameful way; a 
more insatiable lover cannot be found. The behaviour of 
the Sparrow changes before pairing time even: he first 
gives utterance to a note resembling “ shilp,” which is 
repeated with unvaried perseverance ; he next approaches 
his inamorata, bowing and scraping with fluttering wings, 
piping to her in the softest tones, “ dee dee,” or “ dure 
dure.” The coyest heart could not possibly resist such 
tender wooing; and the lady Sparrow is anything but a 
prude : on the contrary, she bows willingly enough before 
the altar of Love, and for this is rewarded by her 
ardent lover with the most exemplary fidelity and tender¬ 
ness,—ten, twenty, aye, thirty times, in succession does 
he salute his beloved partner; a proceeding evidently 
greatly to her taste. Desperately jealous, he is ever 
ready to attack any interloper, and resent the slightest 
attention bestowed on his love; and he will fight long 
and boldly, until his enamoured adversary is put to rout. 
In the matter of fidelity to one partner he shows an 
example to erring humanity, well worthy of imitation. 
The pair, once matched, immediately proceed to build 
their nest. They make the cradle for their young in any 
place that appears suitable in their eyes,—in holes, 
cracks, and crevices of all kinds; sometimes amongst the 
thick boughs of a tree; at others, inside a building of 
some sort, though always where there is a free ingress 
and egress, often in the open. If one pair makes good 
choice of a locality its example is immediately followed 
by others. Old, and on that account large, Storks' nests 
are often occupied by colonies of Sparrows, and many 
trees are almost covered with their nests. These scamps 
willingly seize on the finished nest of the House Martin, 
or on an already-occupied Starling’s box. Much has 
