76 THE FINCHES 



of England from mid-March till late in April (cf . Brit. Ornith. Club Migrat. Reports, 

 i. p. 125, ii. p. 178, iii, p. 182). " The migration reports yield notices of it all round 

 the Irish coasts and at all times of the year " (cf. ; and see further Ussher and 

 Warren, B. of Ireland, pp. 63-4 ; and see also R. M. Barrington, Irish Migrat., 

 1900). It migrates in small parties or flocks. [A. L. T.] 



4. Nest and Eggs. Nesting place : usually at no great height, in bushes, 

 especially gorse, and in hedges. Nest : roots, moss, grass, stalks, lined with hair, 

 wool, feathers, down. (PL iv.) It is built by the hen with but little help from the 

 cock (Naumann ; Bailly, Ornith. de la Savoie). The eggs, usually 4-6, occasionally 7, 

 in number, are rather variable, bluish white or pale blue in ground colour, some- 

 times unmarked, and at other times spotted, blotched, or freckled with purplish 

 red, with underlying paler markings. (PL B.) In size, too, they are variable, the 

 largest exceeding small greenfinches' eggs in size, but 100 eggs average '71 x '51 in. 

 [18*1 x 13'1 mm.]. Laying begins in April-May. The hen incubates, but in the 

 case of one pair the cock was seen to relieve his mate every evening between 

 five and seven o'clock (Helm, quoted in Naumann). Period of incubation 14 days 

 (W. Evans, Ibis, 1891). Usually 2 broods. [F. c. B. J. r. B. K.] 



5. Food. Seeds, berries, insects, buds, fruit. The young are fed by both 

 parents on digested and regurgitated seeds (Bailly, op. cit. ; Zander, Vogel 

 Mecklenburgs). [r. B. K.] 



6. Song Period. All the year. [r. B. K.] 



H O TJ S E - S P A RR O W [Passer domesticus (Linnaeus). Spadger, spuggy, sprig, 

 sprug, spyng, sprong, craff, row-dow, thatch-sparrow, Philip. French, 

 moineau ; German, Haiissperling, Haiisspatz]. 



I. Description. In summer the cock may easily be distinguished from the 

 soberly brown-hued hen by the ash-grey on the head and rump, the brilliant black 

 gorget contrasting with the white cheek-patch and the bluish black beak. The 

 hen has the top of the head and nape greyish brown, a conspicuous post-ocular 

 streak of buff, the mantle and wings brown, instead of mahogany-red as in the male. 

 Length 6 in. [152 mm.]. In winter the grey and black of the cock are obscured 

 by brown, the white by a dull yellowish tinge, and the beak becomes brown like 

 that of the hen. (PL 10.) The young bird resembles the latter, but the white 

 wing bar and the post-ocular streak are barely traceable. The median 

 coverts are brown instead of black, and the throat and breast are dull white, 

 [w. P. P.] 



