BRITISH BIRDS' NESTS. 



MALE COMMON SPARROW. 



SPARROW, COMMON. Also SPARROW, HOUSE. 



(Passer domcsticus.) 

 Order PASSERES ; Family FKINGILLID^G (FINCHES). 



Description of Parent 

 Birds. Length nearly six 

 inches. Bill short, thick 

 at the base, strong, and 

 dusky. Irides hazel. Crown 

 and nape ash-grey (where 

 Tree Sparrow is chestnut- 

 brown) ; back, scapulars, 

 and wing-coverts reddish- 

 brown, mixed with black, 

 the last - named feathers 

 being tipped with white, 

 which forms a bar across the wing. Wing-quills 

 dusky, edged with reddish-brown ; tail dusky- 

 brown, bordered with grey. Cheeks whitish ; chin 

 and throat black ; belly and vent light ash-grey. 

 Legs and toes brown ; claws black. 



The female is not quite so large as the male ; 

 the plumage on her upper-parts is not so bright, 

 and she lacks entirely the black on the chin and 

 throat. Town-dwelling birds have their plumage 

 much dulled by grime and smoke, which even 

 penetrates to the interior of their bones. 



Situation and Locality.- Holes in walls, under 

 tiles and slates, behind signboards fastened against 

 walls, holes in cliffs, the old nests of Sand and House 

 Martins ; in the thatch of houses, barns, and ricks, 

 holes in hollow trees ; amongst ivy trained against 

 houses ; the rafters of stables and sheds ; amongst 

 the loose sticks under Rooks' nests, in old Magpie's 



