TREE OR MOUNTAIN SPARROW. 79 



In their actions the Tree Sparrows are less clumsy than 

 the domestic species, although not very remarkable for ele- 

 gance ; and they often, when upon the ground, progress in a 

 sidelong or crab-like manner. Their flight, although bustling 

 and apparently attended with labour, is slow and constrained. 

 Their notes much resemble those of the common species, but 

 are uttered in a rather higher key. 



This species is the Mountain Sparrow of Linnaeus, also of 

 Ray and the greater part of our English authors : and the 

 Friquet, or Beau, of Buffon and Temminck ; a name very 

 expressive of its neat appearance. 



The entire length of this species is five inches and a half: 

 the wing, from the carpus to the tip, measures nearly three 

 inches, and the tail extends an inch and a half beyond the 

 closed wings. The beak is less thick and blunt than in the 

 domestic sparrow, and measures four and a half lines to the 

 forehead : the tarsi are about six lines high. 



The colours of this bird are prettily distributed and are as 

 follows : the whole upper part of the head and nape are cho- 

 colate-brown, the chin and a streak through the eye black ; 

 the cheeks are white with a large black patch in the centre, 

 and a white line passes round the neck behind. The fea- 

 thers of the back are dusky-black, very broadly edged on the 

 outer web with reddish-brown ; the greater wing-coverts the 

 same with white tips : in the first row of lesser coverts the 

 feathers are black tipped with white, forming a second bar 

 across the wing. The quill-feathers, secondaries, and tertials 

 are dusky, more or less edged with rufous-brown. The tail 

 feathers are olive-brown, edged with a lighter tint. The 

 breast is ash-grey, shading into olive-brown on the sides and 

 flanks, the rest of the under parts paler. The legs are yel- 

 lowish-brown : the iris dark-hazel. 



No difference of plumage is perceptible between the male 

 and female. 



