96 Land Birds of New England 



FAMILY FRINGILLID^E 



46. ENGLISH SPARROW; HOUSE SPARROW 



{Passer dottiest icus . ) 



Male : upper parts gray streaked with black and bay ; top of head 

 gray, sides chestnut ; wing with white bar ; under parts gray ; 

 throat with black patch which extends back upon the forebreast. 

 Beak strong, conical, brown ; feet brown. Bird about five and 

 a half inches long from top of head to tip of tail. Female : color 

 in general similar but duller; the sides of the head are gray 

 instead of chestnut, and the throat is of the same color as the 

 other under parts. 



THIS well-known bird is to be found only too 

 commonly about the streets of towns and cities. It 

 is most abundant and most easily watched in win- 

 ter, when flocks of them are attracted to horse drop- 

 pings for the sake of the undigested seeds to be 

 found therein. A melancholy interest attaches to 

 its gradual extension, not only westward, but into 

 the more sparsely settled parts of the East. A few 

 years ago, though abundant in the village, they 

 were not to be found in the grounds of the college ; 

 while they are now sadly plentiful there. The birds 

 are active, intelligent, and wary, and although very 

 quarrelsome, seem to have some feeling for their 

 kind. Mr. W. T. Hill tells of an experience when 

 he was trying to net sparrows. One of them es- 



