his bright spring colours, is really very attractive, with his ashy
gray head, his back streaked with black and bay, the white bar on his
wings and the jet black chin and throat contrasting strongly with the
uniformly light-coloured under parts. If this were a rare bird the
"black-throated sparrow" would enjoy his share of admiration.

It is wonderful how he can adapt himself to new conditions, nesting
anywhere and everywhere, and this very adaptation is a sign of a very high
order of intelligence. He has, however, many characteristics which tell us
of his former life. A few of the habits of this bird may be misleading.
His thick, conical bill is made for crushing seeds, but he now feeds on so
many different substances that its original use, as shown by its shape, is
obscured. If there were such a thing as vaudeville among birds, the common
sparrow would be a star imitator. He clings to the bark of trees and picks
out grubs, supporting himself with his tail like a woodpecker; he launches
out into the air, taking insects on the wing like a flycatcher; he clings
like a chickadee to the under side of twigs, or hovers in front of a heap
of insect eggs, presenting a feeble imitation of a hummingbird. These
modes of feeding represent many different families of birds.

Although his straw and feather nests are shapeless affairs, and he often
feeds on garbage, all aesthetic feeling is not lost, as we see when he
swells out his black throat and white cravat, spreads tail and wing and
beseeches his lady-love to admire him. Thus he woos her as long as he is
alone, but when several other eager suitors arrive, his patience gives
out, and the courting turns into a football game. Rough and tumble is the
word, but somehow in the midst of it all, her highness manages to make her
mind known and off she flies with the lucky one. Thus we have represented,
in the English sparrows, the two extremes of courtship among birds.

It is worth noting that the male alone is ornamented, the colours of the
female being much plainer. This dates from a time when it was necessary
for the female to be concealed while sitting on the eggs. The young of
both sexes are coloured like their mother, the young males not acquiring
the black gorget until perfectly able to take care of themselves. About
the plumage there are some interesting facts. The young bird moults twice
before the first winter. The second moult brings out the mark on the
throat, but it is rust