Country mouse on house sparrows

Fond of his house sparrows, although they are quarrelsome, Mark observes some are destined never to make it to adulthood

Country mouse, Country Life magazine
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The neighbours have been having the most terrible rows. Barely a night passes without my sleep being disturbed. They are very sweet with their children, but, at any moment, their chat can descend into vicious, vulgar brawls. However, I'm still rather fond of our house sparrows. I think the cock sparrow is the most underrated British bird in terms of beauty; I just don't know why they're so quarrelsome. In full battle mode with each other, they become so consumed with hate that you can catch them with your bare hands as they tumble over the ground.

Yesterday, I found a dead sparrow. All its life's beauty had deserted it and flies feasted on its corpse. However, I doubt its death was from a fight; I suspect it was a new fledgling that, like so many at this time of year, seem unable to make the leap from the nest to the outside world. Every year, we find the odd young songbird wondering around the ground, dazed and seemingly in the thrall of a long, drawn-out death. As a boy, I used to try and save them, tempting them with crumbs, but I never succeeded. For some reason, there are always a few fledglings born with the grip of death already around them.

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Country Life

Country Life is unlike any other magazine: the only glossy weekly on the newsstand and the only magazine that has been guest-edited by HRH The King not once, but twice. It is a celebration of modern rural life and all its diverse joys and pleasures — that was first published in Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee year. Our eclectic mixture of witty and informative content — from the most up-to-date property news and commentary and a coveted glimpse inside some of the UK's best houses and gardens, to gardening, the arts and interior design, written by experts in their field — still cannot be found in print or online, anywhere else.