BIRDS BROWN ABOVE AND WHITE BELOW. 69 



the face and of the neck and under parts ashy- 

 white. Resident. 



Eggs. — 5-6, grayish-white, speckled and blotched 

 all over with dark brown, ash-brown, and gray ; 

 •9X-6 inch (plate 124). 



Nest. — Of straw, dry grass, and frequently scraps 

 of rag, paper, string, &c., lined with feathers, and 

 placed under the eaves of roofs, in gutters, among ivy 

 or creepers on walls, or in a tree near a house, in 

 which last case the nest is domed. 



Distribution. — General. 



Nesting in any convenient hole in house-roofs, 

 and at times in trees near to houses, the House- 

 Sparrow offers himself to our observation at every 

 turn. He is a songless bird, but with his brisk 

 ' Cheep ! cheep ! ' and ' Choiv-chow ! ' and frequent 

 hedgerow scuffles involving some half-dozen frantically 

 chirping birds, probably makes more noise than any 

 other bird. During winter, spring, and summer he 

 remains about human habitations ; but as soon as 

 the grain ripens the birds flock to the fields, where 

 they may be seen in gatherings of hundreds clinging 

 to the standing oats or wheat, or later searching the 

 stubble. In the summer months the bird turns 

 flycatcher for a time, occasionally perching on 

 roof-ridges or gutters, whence he rises with heavy 

 flutterings to capture some wandering insect, then 

 returns to his perch to wait for another. He may 

 readily be distinguished by his ash-gray crown, nape, 

 and lovjer back from the similar but rarer bird, the 

 Tree -Sparrow. 



TREE-SPARROW— 5i inches ; head plain chestnut-brown. 



