66 BRITISH BIRDS. 



length from "95 to '8 inchj and in breadth from "65 to '57 inch. It is 

 often impossible to distinguish small eggs of the present species from those 

 of the Tree-Sparrow. Many eggs of this bird also very closely resemble 

 certain varieties of the eggs of the Meadow-Pipit. The Sparrow often 

 sits upon the first egg as soon as it is laid, and the female bird performs 

 the task of incubating the eggs. After the young leave the nest they are 

 bften fed and tended by the old birds, but sometimes are abandoned ere 

 they can well take care of themselves. 



In the hot months of the year the House-Sparrow is excessively fond 

 of dusting itself, like the domestic fowl ; and sometimes as many as half 

 a dozen may be seen enjoying this luxury in company. In Derbyshire, 

 where the roads are mostly limestone. Sparrows are not unfrequently seen 

 to fly from them with their plumage almost as white as snow. The 

 Sparrow^s flight is rapid, and when prolonged for any great distance is 

 undulating, but when only flying a little way it is almost direct. Upon 

 the ground it progresses in a series of hops. It is by no means an 

 inactive bird ; and were it not so common, its sprightly form and not 

 unshowy dress would win for it considerable admiration. But the Sparrow 

 of the country, the clean bird of the farmyard, is a very difierent-looking 

 bird to the little smoke-begrimed objects that go by the name in towns. 

 Even the country Sparrows in England cannot contrast favourably in 

 purity of plumage with the birds inhabiting North-European and Siberian 

 towns, where the Sparrow^s beauty is perhaps seen at its best. The song 

 of the Sparrow scarcely deserves the name, and consists of a few twittering 

 notes, resembling somewhat the song of a Greenfinch ; and its love-note is 

 a musical twitter, uttered to serenade his mate as she sits, or rather lies, 

 upon the walls or copings. Its call-note is a sharp chirp, at best most 

 unsatisfactorily described on paper ; but most probably, even whilst these 

 pages are being read, certainly whilst they are being written, the Sparrow's 

 merry note sounds outside, and renders a bad attempt to describe it 

 unnecessary. 



The House-Sparrow is partly granivorous and partly insectivorous. 

 In towns the bird chiefly subsists upon the undigested grain amongst 

 the droppings in the streets and on whatever edible substances may 

 be thrown from the houses ; it may also be often seen chasing a 

 butterfly or other large insect, and it feeds upon various larvae which 

 it finds in woodwork and crevices of masonry. In the country its diet 

 is rather more varied; it feeds on grain, both the seed-corn and the 

 harvest, the seeds of grasses, caterpillars, and most kinds of fruit and 

 berries. It is also frequently seen on the ground in fields and grass-plots, 

 probably in search of worms and grubs. 



Dixon writes :—" Much controversy has taken place respecting the 

 present bird's injurious quaUties. The Sparrow eats much that is harmful 



