The San Francisco call., 1909-04-24
BY Az ACTUAL OBSERVER

\ SWEET little "tweet tweet"
.A:smong the ivy. high above my
: kitchen door. reminds me that it
IS nesting time. and that a hungry
if5fle. family is waiting. open mouthed.
fer tke deleetsble morseis brought by
afms and papa sparrow.
listen 10 them with especial in
terest. for they recall to my mind the
sparrow family that built in the same
place last year. This little hollow in
the. wall among the ivy appears to he
a fsvorite spot and is never TO let for
long in the sprin gtime-
Last year. as usual, great deal OF
cheeping and flying back and forth
snnounced 10 Us that pair Of spar
ftows ineended building a nest in the
hole in the wall. Il was interesting
10 watch them. They would fly fus-
silE~ssbout alighting on a ledge near
The hole. .cheeping noisily 10 one an
other, and dsrting in ana out OF their
prospective home. For more than
week they kept this up. seemingly un-
decided about it, when suddenly they
set most diligently 10 work carrying
tVigs and bits OF straw. and lastly,
such = lot Of soft. downy feathers into
the hole, and in three days the nest
was completed. Then the noisy cheep-
ing ceased and only an occasional
thirp and the swift fight Of a little
hrewh bird betokened that the little
hole behind the thick ivy was Occu-
pied.s
They did not seem to mind the open
.SnR and closing Of the kitchen door. or
Show any fear Of me as I stood on
the porch 10 watch them. The mother
was 2 pretty. soft, little thing. a bunch
Of Rrsyish brown down. The father
was more strongly marked. with ring
or much darker brown around his neck
and 2 patch Of it, like q necktie, on
his breast
At last. after much diligent flying
hack and forth on the part of the
rather bird. who carried each time on
the homeward trip some delightful
rnorsel for the little mother on the
nest. 2 faint little "tweet tweet" told
me that the baby sparrows had
hatched from the eggs and that the
another's tender watching and the
father's sssiduous care were at last
duly rewarded Also for several morn
Sngs T. picked up the tiny, thin. blush
cggshells which they had discarded
from the now crowded nest Daily
The "tweet' grew stronger. and unable
10 resist the temptation 10 know how
many there were. I bribed a small boy,
who seemed delighted with the under
taking. 10 climb on top of my kitchen
door and peep in. He reported four,
and said. with a grin that they were
s.the craziest looking things"
OF that ] had proof later, for ] began
10 notice queer little heads with gog-
/. zle eyes on long, dark. pinkish necks
= protrude beyond the hole. and ] began
10 watch for them and calculate how
long before they would learn TO fy-
Alas. poor little ffedgings, they
never learned to fly.
The next Saturday afternoon ms
little daughter said she had seen z
great big ugly. yellow cat on mA
back steps, looking up at the little
hole in the wall. where the little ones
were even then ''tweet tweeting" witt
all their might. ] had grown 10 lov'
The little things, and in fear for theil
safety. threw miscellaneous assort'
ment Of articles at the big yellow
cat." whom ] glimpsed among th'
bushes IN the garden. He scamperes
away and / hoped we had seen the las
Of him.
But on Sunday morning. when ] wen
out on the porch, what a sight greeted
my eyes,
Long strings OF twigs and straw an
twisted wool hanging from the iv.
above my head and at my feet pill
's Of soft warm feathers