130 EVOLUTION OF BIRD- SONG 



there very abundant, had all the cries of its British 

 allies, and uttered them upon the like occasions. 

 Bechstein states that the song of the tree -sparrow 

 (this bird has a close resemblance to the common 

 species) " is less monotonous than that of the 

 house - sparrow " {Nat. Hist. Cage Birds, p. 139); 

 Macgillivray observed that its note " is similar to 

 that of the house-sparrow, but shriller " {Brit. Birds, 

 vol. i. p. 352); and the like observation is to be 

 found in " Yarrell" (4th ed. vol. ii. p. 85). "Its 

 ordinary call-note is similar to that of the house- 

 sparrow, but shriller " (Sterland, Birds of Sherwood 

 Forest, p. 104). The rock -sparrow exhibits a tone 

 of voice similar to that of the house-sparrow (Bree, 

 Birds of Europe, vol. iii. p. 123). In South Africa 

 we should find the same family resemblances, 

 for Layard records, on the authority of Mr. Ayres, 

 that the southern grey-headed sparrow {Passer 

 diffusus) utters a note which " resembles the chissick 

 of the English sparrow" {Birds of South Africa, 

 p. 480). Bechstein has also recorded of the banded 

 finch {Loxia fasciata, Linn.) or Indian sparrow — 

 found in Africa — that its cry is similar to that 

 of the common sparrow, and its song is not 

 very different {Nat. Hist. Cage Birds, p. 3). The 

 chaffinch is related to the house-sparrow by the 



