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British Cage Birds. 



neck, being broadest in front, and gradually narrowing at 

 the nape. The back is rufous brown, spotted with black ; 

 the lower part of the back and rump greenish brown, shaded 

 with grey. The chin and throat are black. The feathers, 

 from the under mandible, down the sides of the neck and the 

 breast, are greyish white ; and the belly, sides, and vent, 

 dusky white. The small wing coverts are reddish brown, 

 edged with black. The larger ones are black, edged with 

 rufous brown, and tipped with white, forming two transverse 

 white bars across the wings. The pen feathers are blackish 

 brown, edged with reddish brown. The tail is russet brown, 

 and the legs of a willow colour. 



Habits and Breeding.— The Tree Sparrow, though not 

 common throughout England, is plentiful in the counties of 

 Lincolnshire, Lancashire, and Yorkshire, and is occasionally 

 met with in other parts. It has been seen in some parts of 

 Staffordshire, and is sometimes found as far north as 

 Durham. It is indigenous in the three first-mentioned 

 counties. It also inhabits France, Germany, Italy, and 

 Eussia, being more plentiful in the last-mentioned country 

 than its confrere, the House Sparrow. It is likewise known 

 in Asia and some parts of America. 



These birds usually build their nests in old, decayed, hollow 

 trees, or in the holes made in trees by Woodpeckers. They 

 do not seem particular as to the kind of tree, so long as it 

 affords them a suitable harbour of refuge, free from obser- 

 vation, and sufficiently large and convenient for their pur- 

 pose. They have been known to build their nests in decayed 

 fruit trees in an orchard, but mostly prefer a plantation, 

 not far distant from some quiet village or hamlet. They 

 sometimes make a nest in the thatched roof of an outbuilding 

 attached to a farmstead, or in an old rotten willow tree by 

 the side of a brook. At other times they take possession 

 of a deserted nest, the former habitation of a Eook, Magpie, 

 Jay, or Wood Pigeon. The nest is made of hay and straw, 

 or dried grass and small fine twigs, lined with feathers or 

 wool, and is similar to that of the House Sparrow. The hen 

 lays from four to six dusky-grey eggs, spotted and marked 

 with brown, and incubates fourteen days. Both parents are 

 most assiduous in their attentions to their young ; and so 

 careful are they, that they watch and guard them long 



