The Hedge-Sparrow. 129 



Family -^ TURDID^. Sitb/amily- A CCENTORIN^. 



The Hedge-Sparrow. 



Accentor nodularis, LiNN. 



EXCEPTING in the extreme north of Europe, this species breeds pretty 

 generally ; in Norway to the forest boundary and to the east up to 

 60° N. lat., but in the north it is rarely found during the winter, 

 migrating thence in autumn to Southern Europe, and occasionally to North 

 Africa. South of the Baltic and westwards to Northern Spain and Portugal it 

 is generally distributed during the summer ; a few breeding in the mountains of 

 Italy, as well as Asia Minor, Palestine and the Caucasus : in the Lebanon and in 

 Arabia Petraea it also occurs in winter. 



In Great Britain, excepting in the more exposed northern islands, it is 

 generally distributed and abundant. 



The upper surface of the head is smoke-grey (slightly washed with buff in 

 the female) and streaked with dull blackish-brown; on the neck and shoulders the 

 grey becomes a pure bluish-ash ; the back is rufous-brown, broadly streaked with 

 black; but the rump and upper tail-coverts are golden- olivaceous and not streaked; 

 the wings are dark-brown, all the feathers more or less broadly edged externally 

 wdth rufous-brown ; the tail-feathers are similar, but tinted externally with rufous 

 or olivaceous-brown ; lores and ear-coverts brown ; chin, throat, sides of neck, and 

 breast bluish-ash ; lower breast and abdomen in the centre whitish-ash ; under tail- 

 coverts buffish-white, with brown streaks; flanks olivaceous-brown, with dark-brown 

 streaks ; bill pitchy-brown, the lower mandible slightly paler ; feet horn-brown ; iris 

 hazel. The female is paler and has the bill slightly longer than in the male, the 

 crown and flanks witli more defined streaks. The young have no grey on the 

 head or throat, but are altogether browner and more spotted than adult birds. 



The popular name of this common bird being objected to by many writers, as 

 being likely to mislead the ignorant, the names of " Hedge- Accentor," "Shuffle- 

 wing," " Dunnock," " Dykie," " Molly," and " Smokie " have been used in pre- 

 ference (the majority being local appellations) ; but, when one considers that the 

 term Sparrow has been applied to numerous other members of the Order Passeres, 

 such as Serins of the genus Sycalis, Grass-finches of the genus Steganopleura and 



