338 



THE HOUSE-SPARROW. 



The house-sparrow {Passer domes tictis, L.) is so well known 

 that a detailed description of it is unnecessary. In almost all 

 parts of Europe where grain is grown it is, unfortunately, far too 

 common. In New Zealand, Australia, and North America it 

 4ias been introduced and has increased there, as here, to such 

 ■an extent as to become a serious pest to the farmer and gardener 

 : alike. 



It may perhaps be advisable to note that the hedge-sparrow 

 {Accentor modulwis, L.) is in no way related to the house-sparrow, 

 the former being a very useful bird, which needs protection, 

 since its diet consists almost entirely of insects. It has a soft 

 'narrow beak quite unlike that of the house-sparrow, which is 

 *h&"rd and specially adapted for eating seeds. 



The nest of the house-sparrow is placed in all sorts of situa- 

 tions : exposed in trees and shrubs, in hayricks and thatch, holes 

 in walls and trees, in rain-water pipes, under the .eaves of 

 houses, in ivy-clad walls, and in the nests of the house-martin. 

 It is rarely found more than a mile or so from human 

 dwellings, and is usually made of straw, hay, or dried grasses, 

 more or less in the form of an oval ball with an opening into it 

 at the side. Five or six eggs are laid, of a bluish-white ground 

 colour, variously blotched or speckled with brownish or blackish 

 markings. 



Each pair of birds may rear two or three broods during the 

 summer, which accounts for the rapidity of its increase when un- 

 molested in districts where food is plentiful. 



