THE HOUSE-SPARROW. 

 Passer domesticus (Linnaeus). 

 Plate i6. 



The House-Sparrow may be said to be the best known of our British birds, 

 and no one, either in town or country, need be without the opportunity of study- 

 ing its appearance and habits. 



It is found almost everywhere in the British Islands, although absent in some 

 of the high bleak districts in Scotland and Ireland. It is also widely spread over 

 Europe. 



The large and bulky nest, made of any suitable material that may come to 

 hand, such as straws, grass-stalks, shreds of carpet, rags, &c., with a soft lining 

 of feathers, is placed either in trees or in some hole, cavity, or any snug recess in a 

 building, high enough to be out of the reach of anyone standing on the ground. 

 The five or six eggs are greyish-white, blotched and spotted with pale grey and 

 greyish-black. 



There is no doubt the House-Sparrow hinders the increase of the Martin. 

 Having had the nests of the latter bird under observation for some years, I have 

 noticed that the attacks of the Sparrow are usually begun very early in the morn- 

 ing by the males, who appropriate the nests before they are quite completed, 

 and if it has been so far finished, as to be inconvenient to the intruder, the entrance 

 is enlarged. 



During the summer months the House-Sparrow destroys great numbers of 

 insects and grubs, for the food of themselves and young, which in autumn and 

 winter principally consists of seeds and grain. At harvest time, when most of the 

 young birds can fly well, large flocks of these and their parents leave the neigh- 

 bourhood of houses and betake themselves to the corn-fields. 



The House-Sparrow is a bold clever bird, and in spite of many enemies holds 

 his own. 



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