Book II. 0<J{3\C1T HO LO gr. %^ 9 



CrtAP. Vo 



Of Sparrows, 



THefe Birds feed upon grains of Corn, Crums of bread, worms, and divers 

 Seeds. Their Bills are (hort, thick, and fomething crooked : Their coj- 

 lour teftaceous or earthy. They are very falacious, and therefore held to 

 befhort-Hved. 



j. i. 



The Houfe-Sparrow. Pafler domefticus, Aldrov. 



THe weight of this well known, and every where obvious bird is i ~ ounce * 

 Its length from the beginning of the Bill to the end of the Tail fix inches and 

 an half 



The Bill is thick, in the Cock black, at the corners of the Mouth between the 

 Eyes yellowifh, in the Hen dusky, fcarce half an inch long : The Eyes hazel-colou- 

 ted : The Legs and Feet of a dusky flefh-colour : The Claws black. The lower 

 joynt of the outmoft Toe, as in other fmall birds, grows to that of the middle 

 Toe. 



The Head is of a dusky blue, or afti-colour $ the Chin black. Above the Eyes are 

 two fmall white fpots. From the Eyes a broad line of a fpadiceous colour. The fea- 

 thers growing about the Ears are afh-coloured. The Throat [below the black fpot] 

 of a white afh-colour. Under the Ears on each fide is a great white fpot. The lower 

 Breaft and Belly are white. The feathers dividing between the Back and Neck, on 

 the outfide the {haft are red, on the infide black, but to ward their bottoms fome- 

 thing of white terminates the red,* The reft of the Back and Rump are of the 

 lame colour with Thrujhes. made up as it were of a mixture of green, dusky, and afti- 

 colour. 



The Hen-bird wants that black fpot under the Throat, as alfo the white (pots on 

 the Neck, and above the Eyes : Its Head and Neck being alfo of the fame colour 

 with the Rump : The nether fide of the body of a fordid white. Inftead of a white 

 line crofs the Wings it hath black feathers with pale reddifh tips. In general the co- 

 lours all the body over are not fo fair and lively. 



Each Wing hath eighteen quil-feathers, dusky, with reddilh edges. From the ba- 

 ftard Wing a broad white line is extended to the next joynt. Above this line the co- 

 vert-feathers of the Wings are of a * fpadiceous colour $ beneath they have their * A coi6ur 

 middle parts black, their exteriour edges red. The Tail hath twelve feathers, and is Uu^burS? 

 two inches and a quarter long, the middlemoft feathers being fomething ftiorter than der. 

 the reft : All of a dusky blackifh colour, with reddifh edges. 



ItsTefticles are great, as being a very falacious bird. Its Guts nine inches long : 

 The blind Cuts very fhort. Its Stomach mufculous, it feeding upon Wheat, Barley, 

 and Other Grain. ; The Womb of the Female is great. It hath a Gall-bladder. 



Whether or no it be fo ihort-lived as is reported, I think there is fome reafon to 

 doubt. 



This kind of bird doth fometimes vary in colour : Aldrovdndm fetting forth a white 

 and a yellow Sparrow : The figures and defcriptions whereof may be feen in the fif- 

 teenth Book of his Ornithology , Chap.i 1, 1 2. 



§. it. 



* The foolifi Bondnian Sparrow of Aldrovand. 



IT is in bignefs equal to the common Sparrow. The colour of its whole body is 

 yellowifh, fpotted every where with oblong nifty, or rather red fpots", Which oil 

 the Back are longer and bigger than elfewhere, all over tending downwards. The 

 Bill is red, thick, and fhort: The Eyes great, their Pupils ericompafled with a yellow 

 circle ? The Tail and Wings incline to black % but the ends of the Idler feathers id 

 the Wings are white. 



Kk §. HI. 



