HOUSE SPARROW. 341 



its humble station, with indifferent food, and poor accommoda- 

 tion. Its form and external parts correspond with the generic 

 character in every point. The oesophagus, PI. VIII, Fig. 1, 

 «, 6, (7, d^ is three inches long, the crop, ^, one inch, the giz- 

 zard, 6, /, ^, A, three-fourths, the intestine, ^, ^, /, 7?z, n, eight, 

 its diameter from nearly two twelfths to one twelfth, the coeca, 

 /, two twelfths, and placed at the distance of ten twelfths from 

 the anus, the rectum ten twelfths. The plumage is blended, 

 rather compact above, the feathers ovate, rather acuminate, 

 with a very slender plumule consisting of a few long filaments. 

 The feathers about the base of the bill are terminated by short 

 bristles, and there are five distinct, pretty large, almost simple 

 bristles at the base of the upper mandible. The wings are 

 rather short, broad, and a little rounded ; the first and third 

 quills about equal, the third slightly longer, the other primaries 

 slowly graduated ; the third, fourth, and fifth very slightly cut 

 out on the outer edge towards the tip ; the secondary quills trun- 

 cato-emarginate. The tail is shortish, nearly even, being very 

 slightly emarginate. 



The bill is black tinged with grey ; the iris dark-browm ; the 

 feet pale brown, the claws darker. The upper part of the head 

 is light brownish-grey ; the loral or preocular space, a line 

 above, another beneath the eye, the feathers at the base of the 

 lower mandible, those of the chin and fore-neck, black, most of 

 them tipped with grey. The black space before the eye is 

 margined above by greyish- white, and the supraocular black 

 line is terminated behind by a small w^hite spot. A broad 

 band of bright chestnut from the eye down the neck, obscurely 

 meeting its fellow behind. The auricular coverts are whitish- 

 grey, and from them extends a broad band on either side down 

 the neck, gradually fading into yellowish-grey. Feathers of 

 the low^er part of the hind-neck, and of the fore part of the 

 back, with the scapulars, brownish-red, their inner web brown- 

 ish-black. Those of the hind part of the back, and the upper 

 tail-coverts light brownish-grey, of which colour, but paler, are 

 all the under parts, the lower tail-coverts being dusky-grey in 

 the centre. The quills are blackish-brown, externally mar- 

 gined with brownish-yellow, the inner more broadly margined 



