Page:HouseSparrowGurney.djvu/63



read, 'are not two sparrows sold for a farthing?' and again, 'are not five sparrows sold for two farthings?'—a proportion in favour of the larger purchase. In some countries on the Continent large numbers of small birds, including beautiful singing-birds unfortunately, are offered for sale in the poultry markets. English people, as a rule, look down on this sort of fare. A sparrow is a poor meal for a man to sit down to! True, but a score or so of the birds, when they are fat and in season during the autumn, make a very toothsome pie. And 'sparrows,' says an excellent cookery book, 'are excellent eating, if cooked in the same way as larks.' Our American friends, we learn, have taken to sparrow-pie lately, thereby diminishing the number of these destructive birds, and making an agreeable addition to their bill of fare. Our friends in the country will do good all round if they do the same, and induce others to follow the example. ❋

In Lorraine I have seen circular earthenware pots hung up against the walls of cottages in several villages, for the house sparrow to nest in—the intention being to eat the young ones.

4