2i8 The Field Naturalist 's Quarterly August 



markings, that one by its mode of flight, another by its 

 running or hopping on the ground ; by call-notes or song, 

 and whether the song is sung in the air, the hedge, or a 

 tree, and, indeed, by all these and many other ways. 



The object of this paper is to help the novice ; conse- 

 quently it will not be supposed that the reader has the 

 slightest knowledge of bird life, so we begin with the 

 House-Sparrow (Passe?- domesticus). On the roof of the house, 

 or feeding amongst the street refuse, we often see a little 

 bird of the size of a cage canary, more or less dirty brown 

 in colour. When on the housetops he calls " chur-chur " 

 to his mates, and this is all most people know about him. 

 We begin our lesson in ornithology by taking a real look at 

 our first bird, when we shall see that he and his companions 

 vary in brightness and cleanliness, and that some of them 

 are chestnut-coloured and black on the sides of the head, 

 have grey cheeks and black throats. These are the cock 

 birds. The hens are duller. To notice that the sparrow is 

 more than a dingy brown bird is to learn something. 



The Tree-Sparrow (P. montanus) had better be left over 

 until more experience has been gained, and then, by careful 

 observation, we shall distinguish this shyer and less common 

 bird by the whole crown of its head being chocolate-coloured, 

 and its having a V-shaped white mark enclosing a black 

 centre on each cheek. 



The Hedge-Sparrow (Accentor modularis), though not 

 related to the above two species, may be taken next. We 

 shall very soon notice it hopping about on our lawn or 

 garden beds, a bird of quieter and, one might almost say, 

 more ladylike habits than the house-sparrow. It is a tame, 

 confiding little creature, allowing sufficiently close approach 

 for us to see its only readily distinguishing features. Its 

 head is bluish grey, its beak longer and thinner than the 

 common sparrow's, and it has a habit of shuffling its wings 

 up and down as it moves about. It loves the neighbour- 

 hood of hedges and bushes, and its call-note, a sharp " keek- 

 keek-keek," also helps identification. 



The Robin Redbreast (Erithacus rubecidd), most loved of 

 all wild birds, is one of the very first to come under our 

 notice. About the size of a sparrow, he is the only bird 



