518 FRINGILLID A. 
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. Rodd, of Penzance, mentions 
in a private communication, that the Falmouth Museum 
contains a single specimen. It is not uncommon in Shrop- 
