sparrow, white-throated sparrow, yel- 
low-winged sparrow, fox sparrow, and 
dear knows how many other common 
American sparrows, the same to him as 
a blue-blooded English one. Why, 
my ancestors lived under the roof of 
Windsor Castle, and flew over the head 
of Queen Victoria many, many a time." 
"You don't say?" returned Miss 
Jenny, very much impressed. "Why, 
you are a member of the royal family, 
you may say. Our family, I have heard 
mother tell, always made their home in 
the city — London proper, you know, 
right under the eaves of the Bank of 
England. But come, that is not what 
you flew over here to say, surely," de- 
murely casting her eyes upon the 
ground. 
" How charmingly you coquette with 
me," said Mr. Britisher, moving closer 
to her on the limb. " Have you not 
seen for weeks past that I have had no 
thoughts for any girl-sparrow but you, 
Miss Jenny?" 
" La, Mr. Britisher, I really have had 
so much attention from your sex this 
spring that I " 
" But none of them have been so de- 
voted as I," interrupted her companion. 
"Think of the many delicious morsels 
I have laid at your feet, and all I ask 
in return is " 
"What?" coyly asked Miss Jenny, 
pretending she was about to fly away. 
"This little hand," stooping and 
pecking her dainty claws with his bill. 
" Will you be my wife, Miss jenny, the 
queen of my heart and home?" 
" The queen of your heart and home," 
repeated Miss Jenny. "That sounds very 
nice, indeed. But when one gets mar- 
ried, my mamma says, then one's 
troubles begin." 
" No, no, my dear one. Your husband 
will hold it his dearest privilege to 
guard you from every care. Life will 
be one long dream of bliss for us both. 
Say you will be mine." 
"Well, I suppose I may as well say 
yes. Mamma says girls must be settled 
in life some time, and I am sure I fancy 
you infinitely more than any of the 
young sparrows hereabouts. So you 
can ask papa and — there, there! You 
will twist my bill off, and Mr. Wood- 
pecker over there, I am sure is watch- 
ing us. Really vou put me in such a 
flutter with your fervor. There, you 
naughty boy; you mustn't any more. 
My! I am so nervous. I'll fly home 
now and quiet my nerves with a nap. 
I'm off. By-by." 
The courtship was brief, as is the 
custom with our feathered friends, and 
so the wedding took place in a few 
days. The bride received the blessing 
of her parents for a dot and the groom 
a shrug of the shoulders and the com- 
forting assurance from his father that 
he was a " ninny" and not aware when 
he was well off. 
All went merry as a marriage bell 
for a season, Mr. Britisher twittering 
daily in soft low tones his prettiest 
love songs and his spouse listening in 
proud complacency as she oiled her 
feathers and curled them prettily with 
her bill. 
" O," she said one day, when making 
a call upon a neighbor, " I'm quite the 
happiest creature in the world. Suck 
a husband, and how he dotes on met 
I had no idea I was such a piece of 
perfection, really. I wish all my friends 
were as well and happily mated. Those 
who have no such prospects are to be 
pitied indeed. Ah! you needn't bridle 
that way, Miss Brownie, for I had no 
particular individual in mind when I 
made that remark, believe me. Well, 
I must cut my visit short, for hubby 
will be looking for me, and he grows so 
impatient when I am out of his sight 
a moment. By-by. Run in and see 
us, do, all of you. We are stopping, 
you know, with papa and mamma for 
awhile." 
" Did you ever see such a vain, silly 
thing?" said the mother of a large brood 
of very homely sparrows. " If my 
girls had no more sense than she, I'd 
strip every feather off 'em and keep 
'em at home, I would!" 
"She makes me sick," said a pert 
young thing in the group. "Per- 
fection indeed! Why, when she laughs 
I'm always uneasy for fear her face will 
disappear down her throat. Such a 
mouth!" 
"Hubby," mimicked another, "I 
thought I should collapse when she 
said that with her sickening simper." 
"Well, well," smilingly said an old 
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