Escaped Prisoners
A strange tale of the sparrow's intelligence and parental affection is told me Two birds were watched again and again from close quarters in the act of pushing beak-loads of food through the holes of grids built into a double wall for the sake of ventilation. The food was removed promptly, though in what way was not observable, nor were the old birds heard to make any call. After a while, when a cat began to take notice of the returning sparrows, the observers broke a hole through one of the air-bricks. Within ten minutes the sparrows found the hole "and started yelling their heads off," and several prisoned youngsters emerged and flew off. It seems that they had got into the hollow of the wall from a nest in the roof, and their plight was discovered by the fond and ingenious parents. The scene of the escape was Aldershot. I have known birds—thrushes—to feed their caged young for some while, indeed until they died. It was believed by their keeper that the parents poisoned the young when escape seemed impossible. I can only repeat what a very clever aviculturist stated, and he had previously prophesied this end for the youngsters.
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