SPAEEOW. 



HOUSE SPARROW. COMMON SPARROW. 



PLATE LXXXIII. 



Passer domesticus, SELBT. 



Yi-liKjllla domestica, PENNANT. MONTAGU. 



Pyrgita domestica, FLEMING. 



THE nest, which is large in size, and very loosely compacted, is usually 

 placed under the eaves of the tiles of houses or other buildings, or in 

 any hole or cavity that will supply it with a convenient receptacle for 

 its brood. It is compiled of hay, straw, wool, moss, or twigs, and a 

 profusion of feathers, which the birds are sometimes seen conveying 

 to their holes even in winter. It often measures as much as six 

 inches in diameter, and sometimes even much more, if the situation 

 demands it. The materials just mentioned, as also any other that may 

 meet the requirements of the bird, are variously disposed and arranged 

 together according to circumstances. Dove-cotes and pigeon-houses 

 are frequently built in, and the same situation is continued to be resorted 

 to, and this even when the young have been exposed to misfortune from 

 rain. It would appear that trees are built in more from necessity than 

 choice, namely, by yearling birds which commence nidification late, by 

 which time convenient places in walls have been pre-occupied; or by 

 individuals which from some cause or other, had been obliged to give 

 up the latter localities. Fewer broods in the year are produced therefore 

 in the case of nests in trees, both from their being commenced later 

 in the season, and from their requiring naturally more time in their 

 construction; they are accordingly better made. Mr. Meyer describes 

 one which was handsomely built of moss, grass, and lichens, and neatly 

 lined with hair. The entrance in these cases is by the side, and the 

 interior is profusely lined with feathers. 



