Hedge Sparrows While the house sparrow is a loud-voiced and
impudent fellow who is wilfully destruc- tive—tearing leaves from the pear blossoms for the purpose of watching them drift away on the breeze—the hedge sparrow is a modest little bird, creeping about in the shelter of the cabbage patch or along the hedge in search of insects and, as far as I can tell, doing no harm to anyone. We were delighted when we discovered that the hedge sparrow had made her nest in the bit of privet at the top of the garden. The nest was a seven-day wonder. On the eighth day the first egg was laid and then one on each subsequent day until the hen began to brood a clutch of four. The books say nothing about the incubation period. We can only guess when the young will hatch. Meantime, we keep an eye on the marmalade cat that has his ' nest ' close at hand and hope that the hunting mice will not discover the sparrow's nest before the young are fledged.
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