THE HOUSE SPARROW 
for ever from such places. Bird-life then would be in com- 
parative peace, and the number of species frequenting 
these places considerably increased. During summer 
the London Sparrow does an incalculable amount of good 
in ridding vegetation of injurious insects, especially 
aphides, and upon these its young are chiefly reared. ‘The 
House Sparrow, as previously stated, breeds at least during 
nine months of the year. Its nest is made almost every- 
where, and is of several types—domed when in trees and 
bushes or amongst statuary, cup-shaped when in holes 
of trees or buildings. ‘The materials are of infinite 
variety. The four or five eggs vary a good deal in colour, 
but the ground is white, with a more or less grey or 
brown tinge, marked to a varying extent with different 
shades of brown and grey. 
Except in autumn, just after the moult, the London 
Sparrow is so grimy and disreputable that one can scarcely 
gain a correct idea of his actual coloration. He needs 
but the briefest description here. ‘The adult male has a 
dark grey crown, encircled by chestnut, the upper back 
chestnut streaked with black, the lower back and rump 
ash-brown ; the feathers under the eye are black, a spot 
behind the eye white, the ear-coverts and cheeks dirty 
white; the wings and tail are brown, the former with 
a white bar; the throat and fore-neck are black, the 
remainder of the under surface greyish white, suffused with 
brown on the flanks and under tail-coverts. Bull black; 
tarsi and toes brown; irides brown. Length 6 inches. 
The female is not so showy as the male, wants the black 
throat, the grey and chestnut on the head, the white 
wing-bar and cheeks. ‘The nestling resembles the female, 
but is a little paler. 
be be, 
