102 THE BIRDS OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



'*j;f/: during the winter months, is entirely harmless to 

 . fruit -.or garden vegetables, and has a pleasant little 

 ' " ' 'song; which may be heard throughout the year, nor 

 has it, so far as I know, the pre-eminently pugnacious 

 temperament of the above-named bird. Insects, as 

 long as they are obtainable, form the principal, if not 

 the entire, food of this species. In the frosts of 

 winter the Hedge-Sparrows cluster about sinks and 

 drain-mouths in search of crumbs and other refuse, 

 and are always, with us, amongst the first visitors to the 

 scraps thrown out from the windows in severe weather. 

 This is one of our earliest nesters ; I have several 

 times found the full complement of eggs before the 

 middle of March, and the first broods are generally out 

 and about before the end of April. In our immediate 

 neighbourhood I do not think that the Cuckoo selects 

 the nests of this bird in which to deposit her egg so 

 often as seems to be the case in other parts of England, 

 though both Cuckoos and Hedge-Sparrows are cer- 

 tainly as common as in most parts of England. In 

 Spain I have only met with the Hedge-Sparrow in 

 the summer months, in scattered pairs, and always 

 at an elevation of several thousand feet above the 

 sea. The curious quivering motion of the wings in 

 this species has probably been remarked by most of 

 my readers, and is, I think, quite peculiar to it. It 

 is perhaps superfluous to say that, in habits, food, and 

 conformation, this little bird has no affinity with what 

 are properly called Sparrows, but I believe that in 

 old times the term Sparrow was used merely to con- 

 vey the idea of a small bird, as, for instance, Brook- 

 Sparrow, Reed-Sparrow, and (a name I once heard) 

 Moor-Sparrow, as applied respectively to the Reed- 

 Bunting, Reed- and Sedge- Warblers, and Meadow- 

 Pipit. In the fourth edition of Yarrell's ' British 



