With nature and a camera; being the adventures and observations of a field naturalist and an animal photographer . ations. House Spar-rows constantly sleep in their old nests, and foulthem terribly during the time they are used asbed-chambers. When they have paired in the earlyspring, and before family cares have commenced,the male and female often roost together in thesame hole. They are the most sagacious birds inthe world, and can adaj^t themselves with ease toalmost any combination of circumstances. I havewatched them go to roost behind sign-boards, inholes under roofs, and in walls, in ev
With nature and a camera; being the adventures and observations of a field naturalist and an animal photographer . ations. House Spar-rows constantly sleep in their old nests, and foulthem terribly during the time they are used asbed-chambers. When they have paired in the earlyspring, and before family cares have commenced,the male and female often roost together in thesame hole. They are the most sagacious birds inthe world, and can adaj^t themselves with ease toalmost any combination of circumstances. I havewatched them go to roost behind sign-boards, inholes under roofs, and in walls, in evergreensoverhanging much-frequented thoroughfares on theoutskirts of London, holes in hayricks, amongst ivygrowing against walls and round trees, holes madeby themselves in old thatched roofs, bare fieldhedgerows, and in their own nests. They sleepduring the winter months in a nuaiber of boxesfixed by a lady in our neighbourhood to the treesin her grounds, for the Tits to breed in. Mostnaturalists have observed the habit House Sparrowshave of picking up straws and feathers in the 236 WITH NATURE AND A COCK SPARROW. autumn, and flying olt with them as if on nest-building intent, and concluded that the Ijirds were repairing their oldnests, a habit wellknown of Ivooks. Ithink I can claim tohave made an inter-esting discovery inregard to this matter,viz. that Sparrows soengaged are prei)aringfor themselves warmwinter quarters or ameans of more effec-tual March, 1897, I examined the eaves of athatch covering a cart-shed, the side walls of whichwere about live feet in height. The Sparrows hadcut holes from sixto twelve inchesdeep in the roof,starting under theeaves and follow-ing the upwardtrend of thestraws, and inthree separate in-stances these holeswere lined withfeathers and had acollection of drop-pings on their outeredges. Die })resenc( of the feathers pii/zled nu^ con-siderably, for L was certain that the species neverbred in the thatch on account of its
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookpublisherlondonparisnewyork
