490 



REPTILES AND BIRDS. 



mandibles in some specimens meeting only at the base. The 

 plumage is soft, blended, and glossy. 



The House Sparrow (Passe?- do?nesticus, Fig. 208) is among the 

 most interesting of the Passerinae. It abounds all over Europe, from 

 its most southern regions up to extreme north. 



Every one is acquainted with this little bird — lively, pert, and 



Fig. 206 — Bullfinches. 



Fig. 207. — Siskin or Aberdevine. 



cunning, the true gamin of the winged race. It lives in flocks in the 

 neighbourhood of dwelling-houses, and even in the heart of large 

 towns ; it is familiar, but its familiarity is circumspect and sly. It 

 haunts our streets and public places, but is careful to keep at a 

 respectful distance from men and boys. It has a notion that the 

 friendship of the great is dangerous, and its prudence counsels it to 

 avoid intimacies which might have troublesome consequences ; it is 

 only after multitudinous proofs of good faith that the Sparrow will 

 form an unreserved treaty of friendship with man. The sparrow 



