HOUSE SPARROW. 477 



The Sparrow, as before observed, is seldom seen far from 

 the habitations of men ; but as summer advances, and the 

 young birds of the year are able to follow the old ones, they 

 become gregarious, flying in flocks together to the nearest 

 field of wheat, as soon as the corn is sufficiently hardened to 

 enable them to pick it out, and here for a time they are in 

 good quarters ; but when the corn is housed, and the fields 

 gleaned, their supply being thus cut off", they return to the 

 vicinity of houses to seek again the adventitious meal which 

 the habitations of men are likely to afford them. 



The House Sparrow is common over the whole of the 

 United Kingdom, including the islands of Orkney and Shet- 

 land ; it is common also in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, 

 where, M. Nilsson says, it infests every house. From thence 

 southward its range is extended to Spain, Portugal, and 

 North Africa ; in the south-east it is found in Italy and Dal- 

 matia. Mr. H. E. Strickland says, that our species, — for 

 there are three others in Europe, — is the conniion House Spar- 

 row of the Levant ; and the Zoological Society have received 

 specimens from Trebizond and the Nubian Mountains. 

 Colonel Sykes includes this species in his Catalogue of the 

 Birds of the Dukhun, from whence he brought specimens, 

 and it has also been received in this country from the Hima- 

 laya Mountains, and from other parts of India. 



The beak of the adult male in summer is a bluish lead co- 

 lour ; from the base of the upper mandible to the eye a black 

 streak ; the irides hazel ; top of the head bluish grey ; over 

 the ear-coverts, nape of the neck, back, and wings, rich rufous 

 brown, the centre of each feather nearly black ; some of the 

 smaller wing-coverts tipped with white ; the greater wing- 

 coverts and tertials broadly edged with rufous brown ; the pri- 

 maries with narrow outer edges of brown ; upper tail-coverts uni- 

 form pale brown ; tail-feathers dark brown, edged with lighter 

 brown ; tail nearly square ; the chin and throat black ; cheeks 



