FRINGILLID. 185 
The Tree Sparrow is a rather smaller and more 
slightly-made bird than the well-known House 
Sparrow, and, though not very brightly coloured, is 
nevertheless a very pretty bird. The beak is dark 
bluish lead-colour, nearly black ; irides hazel; head 
and nape reddish chocolate-colour: from the base 
of the upper mandible to the eye there 1s a narrow 
streak of black which passes under the eye and over 
the ear-coverts; the ear-coverts are also black; 
cheeks and a broadish streak down the sides of the 
neck, broadening at the base and forming a sort of 
of collar from the breast, dull white; back and 
scapulars reddish brown, streaked with black; rump 
and tail-coverts olive-brown, the centres of the 
feathers narrowly streaked with dusky; lesser wing- 
coverts black, slightly edged with reddish brown and 
tipped with white, making a bar of white across the 
wing; the greater wing-coverts are the same, the 
white tips making a second bar across the wing; 
quills dusky, edged more broadly at the base and 
about half-way down with light yellowish brown ; 
tertials black, rather broadly margined with reddish 
brown; throat to the centre of the breast black, rest 
of the under parts a sort of dull smoke-colour ; legs, 
toes and claws pale brown. 
The egg of the Tree Sparrow, except that it is 
rather smaller, is much like that of the House 
Sparrow—namely, white, much speckled with dusky. 
R3 
