The Tree- Sparrow 93 



uote -wliicli the late Mr. Witcliell renders tell, must be that which souuds to me 

 like c/iov.1. 



This species is of no interest as a cage-bird, unless hand-reared : a caught 

 Sparrow rarel}^ lives long, is always wild, vicious, voracious, and unmusical ; if 

 haud-reared it has been known to learn and sing the sougs of the Goldfinch, 

 Linnet, Canary, and Skylark. A friend of mine had one which imitated the 

 Canary's song perfectly, but seemed ashamed of its performance, for it always 

 turned its face to the wall and sang quite softly ; it also never sang until the 

 evening when the Canaries had gone to sleep. For feeding caged Sparrows I 

 should recommend sunflower-seed, oats, Canar}', and German-rape ; groundsel- and 

 plantain-heads ; with a few insects and their larvae. 



Albinism seems to be on the increase in this species, and more particularly 

 in Loudon ; where, if one examines each flock that one passes in a half-hour's 

 walk through the streets, it is not at all unusual to see several pied varieties : 

 there are always two or three among those which collect for crumbs in front of 

 the Natural History Museum. 



Family— FRINGILLID^. Subfamily—FRINGILLIALF. 



The Tree-Sparrow. 



Passer nioiitanus, LiNN. 



SEEBOHM gives the distribution of this bird as follows: — "The Tree-Sparrow 

 is common, though somewhat local, throughout the Palsearctic Region from 

 the Atlantic to the Pacific up to and, in Europe, slightly beyond the Arctic 

 circle. It appears to be very rare in North Africa, and to be absent altogether 

 from Greece, Asia Minor, Palestine, Central and Southern Persia, Baluchistan, 

 and India south of the Himalayas ; it is, however, abundant in Turkestan, 



Vol. II, 2B 



