518 FRINGILLID^E. 



willow trees. Mr. Hoy in a letter to me states, that he 

 has observed on the Continent, where this species is rather 

 numerous, that they often build in holes in the tiling of 

 houses, and in stacks of wood-faggots, and M. Vieillot, 

 when noticing these birds in France, says, that they occa- 

 sionally build their nests in old walls, not many feet above 

 the ground ; and they are also observed to frequent gar- 

 dens like the common House Sparrow. Their nests are 

 formed of hay, and lined with feathers ; the eggs from four 

 to six in number, of a dull white, speckled all over with 

 light ash brown ; the length eight lines and a half, by six 

 lines in breadth. The young are supplied with insects and 

 soft vegetables, which are also the principal substances con- 

 sumed by the old birds during spring and summer, and at 

 other seasons of the year they feed on grain and seeds ; 

 both young and old flying in flocks with House Sparrows, 

 Chaffinches, and other Finches, and Buntings, in and about 

 farm-yards, corn-stacks, and any other places likely to 

 supply food. 



The common call-note of the Tree Sparrow is a mono- 

 tonous chirp, not unlike that of the common House 

 Sparrow, but more shrill ; and of its higher powers of song, 

 Mr. Blyth says, that " it consists of a number of these 

 chirps, intermixed with some pleasing notes, delivered in a 

 continuous unbroken strain, sometimes for many minutes 

 together, very loudly, but having a characteristic sparrow- 

 like tone throughout." 



The Tree Sparrow is a rare species in most of the ex- 

 treme southern counties of England, and is not included in 

 some county catalogues of Sussex, Dorsetshire, Devonshire, 

 or Cornwall ; but Mr. E. H. Bodd, of Penzance, mentions 

 in a private communication, that the Falmouth Museum 

 contains a single specimen. It is not uncommon in Shrop- 



