120 



KEY AND DESCRIPTION 



10. European Goldfinch (Car(hi^Us cardu^Us). — A peculiarly 

 bright-colored bird \vlii( li has been introduced into this coun- 

 try from Europe, and 

 has seemingly become 

 naturalized in the vi- 

 cinity of Boston and 

 New York. It is a 



right, brown-backed 

 bird, with bright red 

 around the base of 

 the bill, black wings 

 with a yellow band, 

 black tail with white 

 European Goldfinch blotclies on the under 



feathers, black crown with a black stripe on the side of the 

 neck, and white boll}^ Its habits are somewhat like those of 

 the American goldfinch. 



Length, 5| ; wiiiL', D ; tail, 2; tarsus, ' ; culmen, J. 



11. European House Sparrow (/'dsse?- clomt^sticus). — An alto- 

 gether too common, streaky-backed, gray-crowned sparrow, 

 with whitish lower parts, having a black or blackish patch on 

 the throat and lireast. The back colors are black and chest- 

 nut ; the rump ashy. There is chestnut on the sides and 

 back of the gray crown, and a white bar on the middle coverts 

 of the wings. The female has the head and rump grayish- 

 brown, and the breast and sides washed with the same color, 

 though lighter. The back has buff instead of chestnut, and 

 the wing bar is not so distinctly white. The nearly universal 

 conclusion is that the introduction of this bird Avas a great 

 mistake, and a mistake whibh cannot be remedied. It has 

 already spread over nearly the whole area covered by this 

 book, and has driven out many of our best American birds. 

 (English Sparrow.) See illustration on p. 382. 



Length, G ; wing, 8 ; tail, 2| ; culmen, I nearly. The European Tree 

 Sparrow (Pdsspr minitiinus) is a bird very similar in appearance to the 

 last, which has become naturalized in the section near St. Louis, Missouri. 



