650 
BIRD-LIFE. 
been related of the dire revenge taken by the rightful 
owners; but of the truth of these assertions we have 
not as yet received substantial proofs. A very eligible 
nesting-place is productive of much quarrelling and strife 
amongst the Sparrows themselves. The construction of 
the nest varies much with the position selected. The 
breeding-nest is not unfrequently an extension of the 
winter edifice which these birds construct; while in 
other cases it is a rough, ragged bunch of materials, 
with an entrance-hole at the side. From the outside 
the nest always presents a most slovenly appearance, 
whereas inside, on the contrary, it is neat, soft, warm, 
and lined principally with feathers. The eggs are 
fragile, from five to six in number, bluish or whitish, 
spotted, speckled, or blotched with different shades of 
reddish brown or ash-gray; they also vary very much: 
incubation is carried on by both parent birds, and the 
eggs are hatched in from thirteen to fourteen days. The 
young are fed exclusively on insects. Eight days after 
the first brood has flown the old birds find another 
nesting place for the next family; and in eight days 
more the female lays again. Old birds breed earlier and 
oftener than younger ones; in many years they will rear 
three broods, and in an unfavourable season two at the 
very least. Soon after the young have flown they 
assemble together in bands, and begin to enter upon the 
battle of life. 
The first brood may be taken without the slightest 
compunction, as they are excellent eating, and it is not a 
bad plan to put up small boxes for the old birds to breed 
in, where the young can be easily got at, else the savoury 
morsel is sometimes difficult to obtain, as the parents 
soon become sharp enough to place their nest in such a 
