A delightful little bird story, perfect to integrate with initial nature study units in the first three grades, and a pleasure read aloud to children or read independently, this follows the winged career of White Patch, a city sparrow, whose first home had been a nest on a ledge in Castle Clinton, of New York's Battery Park. There is a wealth of compressed bird lore, presented freshly, with a real feeling of affinity for the sparrow's miniature charms and habits. Little children will find White Patch's dust bath fascinating, and make his enemies -- the peregrine falcon and prowling cats -- their own. White Patch emigrated (via ferry boat) to Governor's Island where he found delicacies, grasshoppers and grit. White Patch's romance is far more tender than many of adult fiction, and he is as amusing a parent as Dagwood.