238 EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



THE HOUSE SPARROW. 

 (Passer domesticus.) 



Plate 56, Figs. 10, 11, 12. 



The House Sparrow is, almost without exception, commonly 

 distributed throughout the British Islands, only being absent 

 from certain isolated places in the Highlands, the bare and rocky 

 islands of Scotland, and one or two similar places in Ireland. 

 It is distributed over the whole of Europe and Asia (up to, and 

 occasionally beyond the Arctic circle), with the exception of 

 Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, and Malta, where it is mostly replaced by 

 P. italice and P. hispaniolensis. 



In addition to tho clumsy, ill- made nest which the Sparrow 

 always builds in holes, it frequently constructs a well-made 

 domed nest in a tree. 



The eggs vary from five to seven in number, and are pale 

 bluish-white in ground-colour, more or less thickly blotched, 

 spotted and speckled with dark brown, lilac, and greyish-brown. 

 They vary considerably in size, shape, and colour. In some the 

 ground-colour is almost concealed by the rich brown markings, 

 freckled and blotched over the entire surface ; in others the spots 

 are large and very bold, and chiefly massed on the large end of 

 the egg ; whilst many specimens are scarcely distinguishable from 

 those of the Pied Wagtail. They vary in length from 095 to 0'8 

 inch, and in breadth from 065 to 0"57 inch. It is often impos- 

 sible to distinguish small eggs of this species from those of the 

 Tree Sparrow. Many Sparrow's eggs also very closely resemble 

 certain varieties of the eggs of the Meadow Pipit. 



THE TEEE SPARROW. 

 (Passer montanus.) 



Plate 56, Figs. 14, 15. 



The Tree Sparrow is a much rarer bird than the House 

 Sparrow, and its distribution is more local. It is common, 

 though somewhat local, throughout the Paloearctic region from 

 the Atlantic to the Pacific up to and, in Europe, slightly beyond 

 the Arctic circle. 



