HOUSE SPARROW. 73 



victorious possession of the spot, and reared their family in 

 safety. 



Sparrows are among the most inveterate of pulverizers : 

 every one must have observed them frequently indulging in 

 dusty roads in this unenviable delight, in which they seem 

 to take such great pleasure, that they will hardly desist in 

 time to escape being trodden upon. They also bathe fre- 

 quently. In a particular spot with which we are acquainted, 

 a small stream crosses a lonely road, and appears to serve 

 as a bathing-place for the passerine inhabitants of all the 

 country round. To this spot they flock in hundreds, and 

 fluttering in, splash, and dip, and plunge until thoroughly 

 wet, then, on some sudden alarm, they bustle up, making a 

 great noise with their wings, and betake themselves to the 

 neighbouring hedges, where they remain a short time to dry 

 and dress their dripping plumage. 



Sparrows appear to return time after time, and probably 

 year after year, to the same spot for incubation, if it is of a 

 permanent character, such as a trough upon a roof, &c. Such 

 a place, namely, a receiving basin or box connected with a 

 water-trough, we have known selected many times by a pair 

 of Sparrows, although more than once a heavy rain has wash- 

 ed the unfortunate little callow brood out of their place, and 

 precipitated them below. Still experience has not supplied 

 wisdom, and the same place has again been, and still is, re- 

 sorted to for the same purpose. 



The eggs of this Sparrow vary very much in their mark- 

 ings, although by practised eyes they can hardly be mistaken 

 for any other species, except, perhaps the following (P. 

 montanus). They are usually long in form, and rather ob- 

 tuse at both ends ; in colour pale-grey or milk-white, mottled 

 all over with ash or pale-brown : some are so deep in colour 

 as to be black and white. The egg figured in our plate is 

 from a specimen of unusual beauty, for this species. The 



