THE SPARROW 



Passer domesticus 



Top of head a bluish-grey, margined with deep chestnut 

 band over the eye and ear-coverts ; black chin and collar ; 

 a white spot behind the eye ; under - parts a silvery 

 grey ; wing chestnut with black spots, with a white bar 

 across it ; tail-feathers brown with lighter edges ; eyes 

 hazel ; legs and beak pale brown. Entire length, 5*5 

 inches. 



Mr. M. J. NicoLL thinks that the Egyptian 

 Sparrow is a separate local variety, being always 

 lighter and brighter coloured on the back. Spar- 

 rows here, as elsewhere, distinctly follow man. 

 Where no men are, you will find no Sparrows. 

 Get only half a mile into the sandy plain that 

 fringes the cultivation and you will look in vain, or 

 go up the steep hills, and you may walk for miles 

 and miles and never see one. But if you come 

 across some of the old-time caravan roads, or a 

 place where there has been an encampment, then, 

 however wild the surroundings and otherwise far 

 away from civilized life, you will very likely find a 



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