THE MOUNTAIN OR TKEE SPARROW. 



PASSER MONTANUS. 



Crown and back of the head chestnut-brown ; lore, ear-coverts, and throat 

 black • neck almost surrounded by a white collar ; upper plumage resembling 

 the last ; wing with two transverse whil'^ bars. The fmiaU scarcely dififers from 

 the male. Length five inches and a half. Eggs as in'the last. 



The Mountain Sparrow seems scarcely to deserve its name, 

 as it is by no means confined to mountainous districts. It 

 is abundant all over the European continent, and is to be 

 met witli here and there in many parts of England ; but it 

 is nowhere so abundant as the House Sparrow, which it 

 resembles in ail respects, except that the head is of a 

 bright chestnut colour, and the neck wears a white collar. 

 I have never seen it except in society with the common 

 species, and could never detect any difference either in 

 flight or note ; but other observers state that the flight is 

 slow and constrained, and that the note assumes more the 

 character of a song. The nest is variously stated to be 



