ioo OUR RARER BIRDS 



beech woods and other districts where their favourite food 

 abounds. The young and their parents in most cases keep 

 together throughout the winter, and so far as I -can learn 

 only one brood is reared in the season. 



The Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus), as one of our rarer 

 birds, here claims a passing notice. It is distinguished from 

 the House Sparrow by its slightly smaller size, chestnut head 

 and nape, black ear-coverts encircled by white, and' double 

 wing-bar. Another interesting character is that the sexes 

 are alike in colour. This species loves the wilderness ; it is 

 a bird of the open country, the pine woods and quarries near 

 the moors remote from houses, and is rarely seen in towns. 

 I had the good fortune to meet with this bird in St. Kilda, 

 where it breeds in the rough walls and amongst the boulders. 

 It is a remarkably active bird, flies quickly, is shy and wary, 

 and its note is much more shrill and musical. It breeds in 

 April, making a warm nest of dry grass, roots, moss, wool, 

 and feathers either in a hole in a tree, a crevice of a rock or 

 a wall, or under the eaves of a barn or shed in the fields. 

 The eggs are five or six in number, and are subject to the 

 same amount of variation as those of the House Sparrow, 

 from which they are only distinguished by their smaller size. 

 The food of the Tree Sparrow is similar to that of its ally 

 insects, larvae, seeds, and grain. In autumn its numbers are 

 increased by birds from the north of Europe, which migrate 

 in flocks ; but the bird is much less gregarious than the House 

 Sparrow, with whom it sometimes associates, and in most 

 districts may be observed in pairs throughout the year. 



