Tree-Sparrow 



habits, and worthy to be numbered amoog our bird friends. 

 Many spend the winter with us, but it is partially migratory, 

 and their numbers are increased each spring by arrivals 

 from abroad. It is a rather local and scarce bird, but even 

 in places where they are common they are so shy that they 

 are hardly ever seen, and are considered in consequence much 

 rarer than really is the case. It shuns the habitations of 

 man, whether because of the overpowering insolence of its 

 larger relative or not is a debatable point, but the fact remains 

 that if we want to see it we must find some secluded and 

 undisturbed spot. Holes in pollard willows or in some 

 hedgerow tree are generally chosen for a nesting-site, inside 

 which a substantial nest of grass abundantly lined with 

 feathers is formed. Five eggs form the clutch. These are 

 greyish in ground colour, delicately but thickly mottled with 

 brown, and it is an almost invariable rule that one egg of a 

 clutch should be conspicuously lighter than the others. Little 

 is known of the habits of this bird ; its food consists chiefly 

 of seeds and berries, but in summer insects form a large part 

 of its diet and the young are almost entirely reared on them. 

 Its notes and song very closely resemble those of its commoner 

 relative but are slightly more musical and less harsh. 



The adult has the crown and nape dark chestnut, rest of 

 upper parts chestnut with darker centres to the feathers ; 

 upper and lower wing coverts tipped with white and forming 

 two distinct bands. Cheeks white with a triangular black 

 patch in the centre. Chin and throat black ; rest of under 

 parts greyish white passing to brown on the flanks. Length 

 5*6 in. ; wing 2*75 in. The sexes are alike in plumage. 

 The young are similar to their parents but duller. 



125 



