ENGLISH SPARROW. 



EUROPEAN SPARROW Passer domesticus (Liun.). LEACH. 



These hardy, aggressive little foreigners (unfortunately intro- 

 duced) cannot properly be classed with our native birds, but as- 

 they are here to stay, are entitled to mention.* 



GENUS PASSER BKISSOX. 



Form stout and stocky. Bill very stout, shaped somewhat as in Carpodacus, 

 but without nasal ruff. Culmen curved; commissure little angulated; gouys 

 convex, ascending; lateral outlines of bill bulging to near the end. Wings 

 pointed; first, second and third primaries nearly equal and longest; fourth little 

 shorter, rest graduated; inner secondaries not elongate. Tail shorter than 

 wings, nearly even; feet small; tarsus about equal to middle toe and claw; lat- 

 eral toes of equal lengths, their claws not reaching to base of middle claw. 

 Sexes alike. Male with black and chestnut on head. Middle of back only 

 streaked. Old World; two species naturalized in North America (domesticus 

 and montanus). 



The Sparrow Philip Sparrow House Sparrow parasite tramp hood- 

 lum gamin. Male adult: Upper parts ashy gray; middle of back and scapu- 

 lars boldly streaked with black and bay. A dark chestnut or mahogony space 

 behind eye, spreading on side of neck. Lesser wing coverts deep chestnut; 

 median tipped with white, forming a conspicuous wing bar, bordering which is 

 a black line. Greater coverts and inner quills with central black field bordered 

 with bay. Tail dusky gray, unmarked. Lower parts ashy, gray or w!..; : sh; 

 chin and throat jet black, spreading on the breast and lores, bordered on side 

 of neck with white. Bill blue black; feet brown. Wing about 3.00; tail 2.25. 

 Female adult: Above, brownish gray; streaking of back light ochery brovvu 

 and black; wing edgings light ochery brown, the white bar impure. No black, 

 mahogony or white on head; a pale brown postocular stripe; bill blackish 

 brown, yellowish at base below. Varies endlessly in the purity or dinginess of 

 coloration. Young male: At first like female. Europe, etc. (Coues.) 



Their nests are placed in any available nook about houses, 

 cavities in shade trees, etc. They are rather bulky, and loosely 

 constructed of hay, straw, wool, or most any material at hand, 

 and -lined with feathers. Eggs four to seven, . 86x.62; dull 

 light gray or grayish white, speckled and dashed with dusky 

 brown and purplish gray. They vary somewhat in marking, 

 depth of color, form and size. 



*For report of the committee appointed by the American Ornithologists 1 Union, to inves- 

 tigate the eligibility or ineligibility of the European House Sparrow, see my "Revised Cata- 

 logue of the Birds of Kansas." 



