XVI 



SPARROWS, WAGTAILS, AND PIPITS 



"As faint as feeble twitters 

 Of sparrows, heard in dreams." 



ANDREW LANG. 



IF we live in a large town either in Europe or in 

 India, sparrows, like the poor, are always with us. 

 There are, however, certain characters in tropical 

 sparrows that are correlated with their environment, 

 and are unfamiliar to any one whose experience has 

 been confined to temperate regions. The Indian 

 house-sparrow has now been degraded from 

 independent specific rank, and is regarded as a 

 mere race of the common Passer domesticus ; but 

 there can be no question that, to the superficial 

 observer, the bird shows some very distinctive 

 features, especially in its colouring. This is much 

 richer and less dingy than in the European bird, 

 whose feathering has none of the slatey and almost 

 blue tints that ornament that of male Indian 

 sparrows. European sparrows are audacious and 

 impertinent enough, as every one knows ; but houses 



