BIRDS OF NEW YORK 257 



that unless more birds are introduced, this species will not increase as 

 the Starling and the House sparrow have done. 



Ligurineus chloris 



Green Finch 



General color yellowish green, variegated with yellow and ashy gray. Length 6.5 inches. 



The Green finch is one of the characteristic birds of western Eiirope, common 

 throughout the greater portion of the British Isles. A single specimen was obtained in 

 Lewis county by Romeyn B. Hough and was identified by Washington ornithologists as 

 a fine specimen of the European Green finch. It showed no evidence of having been in 

 captivity. Of course, the occurrence of this bird in New York State was purely acci- 

 dental and, as in the case of the European linnet recorded by Mr Thayer, it may have 

 escaped from captivity and have led a wild existence long enough to efface all evidences 

 of its former confinement. 



Passer domesticus Linnaeus 

 House Sparrow 



Description. Male: Upper parts ashy gray, streaked on the back and 

 scapulars with black and bay; broad hand of deep chestnut or mahogany 

 behind the eye, spreading on the side of the neck; lesser wing coverts chest- 

 nut; a white wing bar formed by the white tips of the middle coverts. Under 

 parts grayish; a conspicuous black bib on the throat and upper breast; bill 

 blackish; sides of the head and bordering the black bib nearly white. 

 Female and yotmg: Brownish gray ab'". \re streaked on the back with ocherous 

 and black; wing bar obscure; under parts plain dingy brownish white. 



Length 6.35 inches; wing 3; tail 2.5. 



This bird, which is now our commonest species, is almost exactly 

 the size of a Purple finch. The tail is slightly emarginate, the bill heavy 

 though not so heavy as the Purple finch's, the general build stocky. Per- 

 sons who shoot the English sparrows from their Martin houses or Bluebird 

 boxes can not be too careful to identify the bird before shooting. I have 

 known of Purple finches and 3 or 4 species of native sparrows being shot 

 by accident for the suspected interloper. 



The House sparrow, or English sparrow as it is almost universally 

 called in this country, as is generally known, is an importation from Europe. 

 It was liberated in Brooklyn and New York City during the years i860- 



