348 PASSER DOMESTICUS. 



tive of a willingness to receive his advances. He hops about 

 with great alacrity, depresses and stiffens his wings, raises 

 and spreads his tail, and makes an incessant noise by repeating 

 his usual note. She pecks at him, on which he hops oif, and 

 is pursued, but soon returns ; and in this manner they amuse 

 themselves often for a considerable time. 



The 2)lace which the Sparrow selects for its nest is some hole 

 or cavity, or crack, in a wall, or chimney, or under the eaves, 

 or among the thatch ; in short, any convenient locality at a 

 considerable height, the capital of a pillar, or the ivy along a 

 wall. Sometimes it is found in a hedge or tree, but such a 

 position is not a favourite one. The male and the female are 

 observed busily engaged from morning to night, in carrying up 

 materials for the bulky fabric, such as straw, stalks of small 

 plants, rags of linen or woollen cloth, thread, and feathers. 

 The nest is very bulky, soft, and warm, being usually lined 

 with feathers, or other soft materials. One which had fallen 

 from a cluster of rooks' nests in the grounds of Sir Kobert 

 Dick of Prestonfield, I found to be six inches in diameter, 

 formed externally of stem.s of Agrostis alba, a very few small 

 twigs, one or two oat-straws, numerous rooks' feathers, a little 

 moss, and much wool ; then a great mass of wool, with some 

 hogs"* bristles and horse-hair ; the interior composed of hair, 

 some moss, and a great quantity of large soft feathers^ chiefly 

 of the rook, but also of the Domestic Fowl, the Guinea Fowl, 

 and the Peacock. The eggs vary from four to six, and are of 

 an elongated form, from ten to eleven twelfths of an inch in 

 length, and from six to seven and a half twelfths in their 

 greatest breadth. They have generally a greyish- white ground, 

 and are more or less covered with longitudinally oblong spots 

 of pale grey and greyish-black ; but are sometimes closely 

 freckled all over with grey and brown ; so that they difter ex- 

 tremely in colour, as well as in size. 



Young. — The young when fledged resemble the female, but 

 are much lighter, the upper parts being dull yellowish-brown, 

 the lower greyish- white, tinged with yellow ; the bill greyish- 

 yellow, or horn-colour, as are the feet. They often come 



