i 7 8 SKETCHES OF BIRD LIFE. 



to barns and outbuildings like the common House 

 Sparrow. We have the evidence of several ob- 

 servers to the contrary. Yarrell was informed by a 

 correspondent in Rutlandshire that he had seen it 

 building in the thatch of a barn in company with 

 Common Sparrows ; and the author of the standard 

 work on British Birds' eggs states that in Northum- 

 berland he has known it to breed under the coping 

 of old walls, also in company with House Sparrows. 

 Mr. E. T. Booth's evidence on this point is very 

 strong. He says : " I took particular trouble to 

 hunt for the breeding quarters of these birds round 

 several farms in the east of Norfolk (where they 

 are common), and in every instance the nest was 

 placed amongst the buildings ; some in cowsheds, 

 others under the tiles of the outhouses, and three or 

 four among the rough stems of some particularly 

 coarse ivy that grew over an old wall. Not one 

 did I discover amongst the trees, though the House 

 Sparrows were breeding plentifully both in the 

 branches and the ivy round the trunks." 



The food of the Tree Sparrow probably does 

 not differ much from that of the commoner species. 

 It feeds largely on seeds, and does no small service 



