i8o RURAL BIRD LIFE. 



peaceful farmyard. If man emigrates into the wild, the 

 Sparrow goes too, subsists upon his bounty, and rears his 

 young in safety under his roof-tree. In fact, wherever 

 we hear his merry chirp, or catch a glimpse of his pert 

 little form, we may rest assured that human habitations 

 are not far away. 



Unlike all or nearly all birds of the Finch tribe, the 

 House Sparrow is gregarious at all times of the year ; 

 and what is more interesting, we have every reason to 

 suppose the Sparrow is a life-paired species, as every 

 season we find their old nests tenanted. The Sparrow 

 maybe found breeding throughout the spring and summer, 

 and in some instances the winter too. I have known 

 their nests contain newly-laid eggs in December. Their 

 chief breeding season, however, is in April, May, and 

 June, and during these months we sometimes hear the 

 male bird utter his love song. Many persons, accus- 

 tomed as they may be to live surrounded by Sparrows, 

 have never heard his song ; and this is not at all sur- 

 prising, for he only utters it at rare intervals, and then in 

 tones low and soft. The song itself is merely a few 

 twittering notes, some of them sweet and soft, others loud 

 and harsh, and differs but slightly from the song of the 

 Greenfinch. 



Sparrows build in societies, hke Rooks, or singly, as 

 circumstances permit, the abundance or scarcity of nest- 

 ing-sites influencing them in this matter. When the 

 Sparrow builds its nest in a tree the structure is domed : 

 it is also domed when placed in an old Magpie's nest, or 

 in the crevices of the Rook's nest, for both these situa- 

 tions, the latter especially, are often selected ; but if 

 made under eaves or in holes in walls and trees it is an 

 open one. Various indeed are the materials used by the 

 House Sparrow for making its nest. If in the branches 



