is
not handsome, and it is not a sweet songster, so that man is not
disposed to give it much protection. He is often prompted to destroy it,
because of the injury which it does to his gardens and his crops.

But in spite of all its difficulties, the sparrow thrives, and brings up
a numerous family, because it has less fear of man than other birds
have. It frequents the haunts of men, while other birds are scared away
from them. It requires some courage to brave the noise and tumult of a
town, but the sparrow possesses this courage, and is rewarded
accordingly. As other birds are too timid to trust themselves to a life
among houses and streets, the sparrow needs no protection from them.

Ordinary as the sparrow is in almost every respect, we cannot but admire
its courage and its wariness. It is surrounded by many dangers, and it
is not only surprising how it braves them, but also how watchfully it
looks out for them, and how cleverly it learns to avoid them. We all
know how it watches the cats and the dogs, and even a man with a gun,
and seeks a place of safety at the first sign of danger.

One of the newspapers recently gave a very striking instance of a
sparrow's confidence and coolness. A passenger who was waiting for a
train in one of the Underground Railway stations observed a sparrow
hopping upon the rails in search of crumbs. A train came into the
station from the direction in which the passenger wished to travel, and
he had leisure to watch the sparrow. It allowed the engine to come
within a few feet of it, and then, instead of flying away, it quickly
hopped off the rail upon which it stood, and hopped into the space
between the rails. There it lay until the train puffed out of the
station, when it jumped upon the rails again, and resumed its search for
crumbs. Presently another train entered the station, and the sparrow was
seen to repeat its previous action, and to take refuge once more between
the wheels of the train.

W. A. ATKINSON.

[Illustration: "It hopped into the space between the rails."]

[Illustration: "The woodpecker fled in fear."]

THE INTRUDING SQUIRREL.

The squirrel in the woods is as full of frolic and play as a kitten. One
would think that it had not a care or anxiety of any kind to break in
upon its play. And yet it has food to find, a family to bring up, a
winter nest to make, and several stores of food to lay up ready for
those occasional days when it wakes up from its lon