The Washington times., 1904-05-21
Birds in the City.


We have had numerous books about
bird study in remote rural districts. but
Dallas Lore Sharp's Roof and Mea-
dow" records the study of the feather
ed folk from the vantage of a sky2 crap
er. Mr.. Sharp admits that this is not
precisely the ideal environment for the
| ornithologist. but he finds much that is
interesting. nevertheless. The little book
is made up of racy. bright. ana fas-
cinating sketches of bird and animal
life, with ILLUSTRATIONS by Bruce Hors-
fall
1t takes an uncommon bird-lOver TO
get any fun out Of English sparrows, but
this is what the author has 70 say OF
them in his essay, "a Sparrow Roost:'
Il waited by the ancient graveyard
| until the electric lights grew bright, un-
til every fussing sparrow was quiet. I'M
I til / could see only little gray balls and
/ blurs in the trees through the misty
/ drizzle that came down with the night.
/ Then l turned toward my own snug
roost. five flights up next the roof, and
/ just a block away, as the sparro @s
! fly. from this roost of theirs. I was
/ glad 20 have them so near me
The windows OF my rc0st look out
] over roofs of slate. painted tin. and tar
~ pebbles into chimney-fenced plot OF
! sky. Occasionally during the winter a
herring gull from the harbor swims into
( this bit of smoky blue; frequently a
I pigeon, sometimes a flock, sails past;
and in the summer dusk, after the
swallows quit ii. a city-haunting night
hawk climbs out of the forest Of chin
ney pots up. up above the smoke FOR
his booming roofward sweep But win
ter and summer, save along through
June. the sparrows. as evening falls, cut
across the sky field on their way to the
roost in the old burial ground. Their,
go two, there twoscOTe in a whirling
scudding furry like a swift-blown bunch
Of autumn leaves. For more than al
hour they keep passing, till the dusl
turns to darkness. till all are tucked
away IN bed
zone would scarcely recognize tn,
birds as they sweep past in these fur
rics. their flight IS So unlike their usua
clumsy scuttie as they get out of one
way along the street. Tney are lUmpisl
and shOrt-winged on the street; the.
labor and lumber on with a sidewis
7 twist to their bodies that reminds on
or rheumatic old dog upon the trOI
What suggestions Of grace or swiftnes
about them upon the ground2 Blu
watch them in their evening flight II
a revelation. They rise above IN
houses and shoot across my sky Tx
a charge of canister. / can almost her
them whiZz. Down by the cemetery
have seen them dash into view high u
in the slit Of sky. dive for the trees, dar
zigzag like a madly-plunging kite, an
| hurl themselves, as soft as breaths
, among the branches
This Is going 10 bed with a ven
Eeance. I never saw any other bird
get to roost with suCn velocity. 1t 1
characteristics. however, the sparrow
never does anything by halves"
S This rather long extract may serve {
show the grace OF style with which tn
author treats even commonplace things
His subjects, however, are widely varied
Among the contents of the book ar
I squirrel tales, stories Of bird friendship
| and bird enmities, ana one deiightfL
chapter Of satirical comment on thos
= nature students 10 whom their story
[ a means OF culture" and not a form @
- amusement. The stories are sailed wit
- | hUmor and favored with sympatheti
, | understanding. \ more charming natUr
| book is not TO be found III this year
9 I Greg
: These are real birds and beasts. an
. the incidents recorded are genuine. The
, are not naturalist fiction, and the emo
o tions of the creatures are not describe
e in terms OF the novelist for which II
10 lief much thanks. There are just enoug
pictures and not too many. and the onl
serious fault that the book has is tha
G IL WAS not born twins. (NeW York: Tn
Century Company