46 



The Irish Naturalist. 



May, 



House-Martins were nesting, and tried to appropriate one 

 of the four nests. The eight House-Martins united to 

 drive them away. The cock Sparrow made some fight, 

 but was easily beaten, since it was eight birds to one, and 

 he got no help from his wife. They then retired to the 

 other end of the yard, and wished to occupy a hole where 

 a pair of Blue Titmice were nesting. Again a very hot 

 battle ensued, but it was two against one, the two Blue 

 Titmice against the one cock-Sparrow, whose wife acted 

 spectator. The Sparrow was soundly beaten, and his 

 mate left him in disgust and was never seen in the yard 

 again. This story has since been quoted by Mr. F. B. 

 Kirkman in his important work " The Biitish Bird-Book " 

 (\ ()1. ii., p. 301), where he notices what seems to him the 

 singular fact that the hen-Sparrow gave her mate no 

 assistance in either of the hard battles he had to fight. 

 She was the only one of the twelve birds concerned in the 

 story who didn't fight. But the conduct of all twelve is 

 an exact illustration of what . I have just been trying to 

 lay down as the law of nuptial coloration. The cock- 

 Sparrow lias a distinctly marked plumage, quite different 

 from his wife, and is, th(?refore, marked out as a fighting 

 bird, while she is not. In the House-Martins there is no 

 difference ; all the birds in the colony wear the same well- 

 contrasted uniform, and thereby indicate that they all 

 fight to protect the common interest. And equally so the 

 Blue Titmouse, being a bird whose nest is ylways in a 

 hole, has developed along with its very sharp strong bill a 

 plumage of wonderful brightness and beauty, which is 

 worn by both (X)ck and Jien as a warning to intruders to 

 beware of either. 



P( rhai)s I may be told that the Sj)arr()\v. too, nests in 

 holes, and that if he didn't do so he wouldn't have wished 

 to dis})()ss(ss either the House-Martin or the Fitmouse in 

 the story given above. So, on my own showing, the 

 hen-sparrow ought to be coloured like the cock, though she 

 isn't. Instead of a contra(li( tion here, 1 think I find a 

 further conlirmation of the cornel ness of my suggested 

 rnl<'. Ilie Ilonse-Sparrow does Jiot nest in liok's, except 

 iiK idcntally. It n^es any sort of a cr(.'\ ice or ledge, or 



