CHE OONE-BILLED PEROHEBS. 



243 



grain, uave the most strong similitude to each other, and may 

 juAtly be supposed, as Mr. Buffou imagines, to come from the 

 same original. 



The Sparrow has a conical, straight, and sharp-pointed 

 bill. Under this genus there are more than a hundred species, 

 chiefly distinguished by their color. The chief feathers of the 

 wing and tail are brown, those of the breast dark, and those of the 

 body grey and black. They have three broods in the year. They 



delight to live near the habitations of men. They build iheii 

 nests about houses, wherever they can find admittance. Their 

 nests are built slovenly, generally consisting of a little hay lined 

 well with feathers, where they lay five or six eggs of a reddish- 

 white color, spotted with brown. Sometimes they expel the mar- 

 tins from their nests, to save the trouble of building one of their 

 own. There is an instance upon record of the martins having 

 shut the door of one of their nests with clay, which a sparrow 

 had unjustly taken possession of, and thus the usurper was im 

 mured in da-k and solitary confinement. In spite of eveiy pi* 



