HEDGE-SPARROW. 497 
ACCENTOR MODULARIS. 
HEDGE-SPARROW. 
(Piate 12.) 
Curruca sepiaria, Briss. Orn. iii. p. 394 (1760). 
Motacilla modularis, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 829 (1766); et auctorum plurimorum 
—( Bonaparte), (Temminck), (Degland), (Gerbe), (Naumann), (Newton), (Dres- 
ser), &e. 
Sylvia modularis (Linn.), Lath, Ind. Orn. ii. p. 511 (1790), 
Prunella modularis (Zinn.), Vieill. An. Nouv. Orn. p, 43 (1816). 
Accentor modularis (Linn.), Koch, Syst. baier. Zool. i. p. 196 (1816). 
Curruca eliotee, Leach, Syst. Cat. Mamm. Sc. Brit. Mus. p. 24 (1817), 
Tharrhaleus modularis (Linn.), Kaup, Nat. Syst. pp. 137, 192 (1829). 
The Hedge-Accentor, or Hedge-Sparrow, is another of those birds 
which, from its trustful habits, is familiar to all. It is one of the most 
widely distributed of our native birds, being found throughout the British 
Islands except in the barest and most barren situations. It is found on all 
the Hebrides, except a few of the most desolate islands ; in the Orkneys it 
is of only accidental occurrence, chiefly in winter ; and in the Shetlands but 
one specimen has with certainty been seen—in October. In the Channel 
Islands the bird is, according to Mr. Cecil Smith, as common as in England, 
and resident. Dresser’s statement that the Hedge-Sparrow was obtained 
in Persia is a mistake. There is no record of its occurrence east of the 
Ural Mountains and the Caucasus. None of the various species of Accentor 
found in Persia, Turkestan, the Himalayas, Siberia, and Japan are very 
nearly allied to our bird. The Persian bird appears to be quite distinct 
from the Japan bird; and the examples of the latter figured by Gould in 
his ‘ Birds of Asia,’ and now in the British Museum, seem quite distinct 
from the A. rubidus of Temminck and Schlegel figured in the ‘ Fauna 
Japonica.’ Neither of these two species has yet been named by ornitho- 
- logists. 
The Hedge-Sparrow breeds throughout Europe, except in the extreme 
north. In Scandinavia its range extends as far as the limit of forest- 
growth (about lat. 70°). In West Russia a few wander as far as Archangel 
(about lat. 64°), and in the Ural Mountains it occurs as far north as lat. 60°, 
Towards the northern limit of its range it is a summer bird of passage, 
only remaining during the winter in rare instances. In South Europe it 
is principally a winter visitant ; but in Spain, Italy, Asia Minor, Palestine, 
and the Caucasus a few retire to the mountains to breed. In North Africa 
it is only known as an occasional straggler in winter. As a rule, the 
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