THE HOUSE SPARROW 
PASSER DOMESTICUS 
Loca names in surrounding counties : 
Status 1N British Avirauna: A common and widely 
distributed resident, but scarce and local in uncultivated 
districts. 
Rap1aAL DisTrRIBUTION WITHIN FIFTEEN MILES OF ST. 
Paut’s: ‘The House Sparrow enjoys the unique position 
of being the commonest and by far the most abundant 
of London’s birds. From the great cathedral, which we 
have taken as the centre of our radius, and on which the 
House Sparrow congregates and breeds in abundance, to 
the outermost and most rural of the suburbs of the 
Metropolis—a vast area thirty miles across—this species 
abounds. ‘There is scarcely a street, however mean or 
grimy or crowded, there is scarcely a building, however 
humble or palatial, that does not afford it a refuge or 
upon which it may not be seen. It stuffs its untidy 
nests into the crevices of every kind of building, or amongst 
the carvings of statuary, the effigies of royalty being shown 
no more respect than the stone or plaster equivalents of 
less exalted personages. London may be described as a 
huge colony of House Sparrows, possibly numbering mil- 
lions, and in certain spots, such as in the grain docks, in 
some of the public parks—Hyde Park, for instance—and 
at the Zoological Gardens, their numbers are literally 
enormous. ‘There is a perceptible exodus in summer to 
the outlying districts, where grain-fields are an attrac- 
tion, but otherwise the Sparrow is ever in evidence. 
Changed conditions of life have produced many note- 
worthy characteristics in the House Sparrow during, say, 
the past five hundred years or more. Not the least 
interesting of these is its gregarious habits. It is the only 
British Finch that lives in colonies throughout the year. 
157 
