294 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF NATURAli CLASSIFICATION. 



as our observing naturalist truly remarks^ " a most 

 domestic little bird." The Rasores are conspicuous for 

 a permanent attachment between the sexes, long after 

 the season of incubation, and when most other birds 

 separate and disperse; but our little hedge-sparrow pos- 

 sessess the constancy of its type, for " it appears always 

 to live in pairs, feeding and moving in each other's 

 company." Next, as to its nest : the loose slovenly way 

 in which their habitation is fabricated by the Rasores is 

 well known ; so also is that of the hedge-sparrow, for 

 " it has little art displayed in its concealment," or, com- 

 paratively, in its construction ; and as rasorial birds build 

 their nests for the most part upon the ground, so does 

 the hedge-sparrow place hers but a short distance above 

 it.* Both live and seek their chief supply of food upon 

 the earth, pecking about for seeds, however small ; and 

 both, for such a life,, are gifted with unusual strength 

 in their legs. Rasorial birds are well known to have 

 short convex wings, and a strong entire bill; so also 

 has the hedge-sparrow, while the bill of the type of its 

 genus, the Accentor alpinus, is so thick, that it might 

 be compared to that of a finch. One of the great 

 typical divisions of the gallinaceous order is remarkable 

 for the variegated yet plain and homely colours of their 

 plumage ; witness the whole of the grouse, partridges, 

 and bustards ; so also is that of the hedge-sparrow ; its 

 colours, on close inspection, are prettily varied, yet the 

 general effect is " remarkably sober and grave." Finally, 

 it is among the Rasores we see that peculiar intelligence 

 of parent birds in the preservation of their young, which 

 is so well known in the partridge ; either one or both 

 the parents will entice those whom they fear away from 

 their nest or infant brood, by feigning lameness, in a 

 variety of ways. Now, the only native bird, in the 

 whole of this division of warblers, that will do this, is 

 the hedge-sparrow. Bewick, who was aware of this 

 fact, observes, that, " during the time of sitting, if a cat 

 or other voracious animal should come near the nest, 

 * Bewick, vol. i. p. 223. 



