SPARKS 



SPARROW-HAWK 



calcareous spar, Fluor Spar (<j.v.), &c. in which, 

 however, it has no proper generic Bignilicance. 



Sparks. JAKKD, American historian, WHS born 

 at WilliagtOB. Connecticut, May 10, 1789, graduated 

 at Harvnnl University in 1815, and became tutor 

 in mathematics and natural philosophy tin-i.-. and 

 one of the conductors of the A'ortn Ann 

 Review. In 1810 he was settled as a Unitarian 

 ininiHter at Baltimore, where he wrote Letters on 

 the Ministry, Hit mil, mid Itm-lrines of the Pro- 

 testant Episcopal Church. In 1821-23 he edited 

 the Unitarian Miscellany, in which he first nub- 

 lished his Letters on the Comparative Moral 

 Tendency of Trinitarian <jml I'niturinH Doctrines. 

 In 1821 he was chosen chaplain to congress, but 

 two years later he abandoned preaching owing to 

 ill-health, and for seven years was proprietor and 

 editor of the North. Amen: m, I;, riew. In 1828 he 

 published a Life of John Ledyard, and from 1834 

 to 183" edited at Boston 12 volumes of the Writ in,/* 

 of George Washington. This important national 

 work was followed by the Diplomatic Correspond- 

 ence of the American Revolution ( 12 vols. 1829-30), 

 and the Life of Gouverneur Morris (3 vols. 1832). 

 At this period he commenced the American 

 Almanac, and began also his Library of American 

 BiofrapAy, lirst issued in two series of 10 and 15 

 vols. In 1836-40 was published his collection of 

 the Works of Benjamin Franklin ( 10 vols.), and in 

 !*.">.'{ his CorresjKmrlence of the American Rfmhi- 

 t,:,n (3 vols.). Besides these multifarious literary 

 labours, combining laliorious research with clear 

 arrangement, a simple style, and accurate state- 

 ment, he was from 1839 to" 1849 McLean professor 

 of History at Harvard, and from 1849 to 1853 

 president of the college. He died March 14, 1866. 

 See memoirs by Brantz Mayer (1867), G. E. Ellis 

 (1869), and II. B. Adams (1892). 



Sparling. See SMELT. 



Sparrow (P<tsser or Pyrgita), a genus of birds 

 of the family Fringillidae, having a strong conical 

 bill, the upper mandible slightly curved, the lower 

 mandible compressed and shorter than the upper, 

 the nostrils partly concealed by the short feathers 

 at the base of the bill, the legs moderately long 

 and stout, the claws sharp and curved, the tail 

 moderately long, and nearly even at the tip. The 

 species are not very numerous, and are exclusively 

 found in the Old World. The Common Sparrow, 

 or House-sparrow (/'. domeslicus), is plentiful 

 almost everywhere in the British Islands, its dis- 

 tribution following cultivation even to the Outer 

 Hebrides. It is found also throughout Europe as 

 far as to the Arctic Circle, but not in the Faroes, 

 abounding particularly in the northern countries, 

 from which its range extends eastwards into 

 Siberia, and southwards in Africa to Lake Allm-i. 

 Nyan/a, Morocco, and Madeira. A paler variety 

 is found in Siam, Burma, and the Indian region as 

 far west as southern I'crsia, Of all British birds 

 the sparrow is the (Mildest in its approaches to 

 man, and it is too well known to require desn ip 

 ion. Town sparrows are not mere visitors from 

 the neighbouring country, but constant inhabitants 

 nl the town itwelf, with the xmoke of which their 

 plumage is iN-giimed. The sparrow in its best 

 plumage is not a very beautiful bird, nor so el,- 

 gant in form as ninny otlieix of the (inch tribe; it 

 lias no melodious son;;, but its habits are interest- 

 ing, and its li-ei|uent lively chirp is pIcoMii;;. Spar- 

 rows often congregate in great flocks, particularly 

 in autumn. The sparrow is one of the most omni 

 voroiiH of birds, devouring animal and vegetable 

 food indiscriminately, and eating vast numbers of 

 insects and their larv.-e during summer. Their 

 depredations on crops have induced many farmers 

 to use means for their destruction. They are good 



'. though little used for this purpose in Britain. 

 It is otherwise in France, where all the small bird* 

 are sought after as articles of food. But the 

 destruction of sparrows may be carried too far ; 

 and in France it has been followed l.\ an increase 

 of caterpillars, vastly more injurious to crops than 

 the sparrows themselves. Since the young HP 

 upon caterpillars ami insert larva', the killing of 

 the Hedged young has been recommended as the 

 best method of taking advantage of the usefulness 

 of the sparrow and at the same time checking it- 

 autumn ravages among the grain. The sparrow 

 makes a very inartificial nest, collecting a quan- 

 tity of hay or some similar material, in a hole 

 of a wall, and lining it with feathers; sometimes, 

 but more rarely, building a rude dome shaped m -t 

 in the higher branches of a tree. Apart from 

 the habitations of man, which it so much fre- 

 i|iients. it often builds in crevices of rocks, or 

 in cliff's on the seacoast, or under the shelter 

 of the nests of rooks, one rook's nest sometimes 

 covering several nests of sparrows. Several broods 

 are produced in succession, and the breeding 

 season is prolonged over the whole summer, one 

 brood succeeding another. In summer the plum 

 age of the sparrow is more brilliant than in 

 winter, and the female is of more sober plumage 

 than the male, exhibiting indeed almost no variety 

 of colour. In Italy a species, P. iiali<r, is found"; 

 and in Sardinia, Sicily, and Malta another species, 

 P. hispaniolus, occur*, which in Spain breeds in 

 the woods, while the common s)iarrow keeps to the 

 towns. AlMiut 1862 the house-sparrow was intro- 

 duced into the United States, and it has also been 

 acclimatised in Australia and New Zealand, in all 

 which places it has liccome a great pest. The Tree- 

 sparrow (P. montantis), the only other British 

 species, is very similar to the common sparrow, but 

 of rather smaller size ; rarer and more local, but 

 extending in its range, being found in the Hebrides 

 and St Kilda, very sparingly in the south-west of 

 England, and resident in Ireland near Dublin. It is 

 multiplying in the Faroes, and extends beyond tin- 

 Arctic Circle. It is more abundant in soine parts 

 of Europe than the house-sparrow. It visit* fcgypt 

 and Arabia, and is found in the south of Asia* as 

 far as the Philippine Islands and the Malay Penin- 

 sula, In Java a variety has developed (7'. inti/ur- 

 censis). The White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia 

 aibieoilii), an American form, is really a bunting. 

 It has been found in the east of Scotland and the- 

 south of England. Other American sparrows have- 

 little in common with the genus I'asser. The 

 nostrils are in a small groove, and the tail is slight l\ 

 forked. The Hedge-sparrow (see W\I;HI.I:K) Js- 

 n bird belonging to an entirely dilt'erent group ; 

 and the name sparrow is loosely given to vari- 

 ous different birds in various parts of the world. 

 For accounts of the destructiveness of the sparrow, 

 see The House Simmm; by .1. II. Cuincy. liusxell,. 

 and Cones, and Miss Ormerod's UeporU. 

 Sparrow-hawk (A<T,/,;tcr), a genus of long- 



i. short winged falcons, nearly allied to and 

 closely resembling the goshawks, but distinguished 

 from them by their smaller sixe, weaker bill, and 

 Ion;;, slender middle toe. The genus is represented 

 in almost all parts of the world. The Common 

 Sparrow-hawk (A. nuns), notwithstanding the 

 on-taut war waged against it by gamekeepers, 

 -still comparatively abundant in wiioded districts 

 Jiroughout (ireat Britain ami Ireland. It nests in 

 ;rees, sometimes building a nest of its own, some- 

 hue- adopting one deserted by a crow or other 

 iird. The eggs, four to six in number, are laid 

 early in May, and are of a bluish-white colour 

 marked with reddish brown. The food of the 

 sparrow-hawk ordinarily consists of small birds. 

 which it takes while on the wing, but when rearing- 



