2 
TREE-SPAR ROW. 
or four among the rough stems of some coarse ivy that grew over an old wall. Not one did I discover amongst 
trees, though House-Sparrows were breeding plentifully both in the branches and the ivy round the trunks. 
\\ it hin the last lew years I again visited the district, and noticed the birds still frequenting the same spots ; 
a sma11 colony was also pointed out by one of the natives in the roof of a carpenter’s shed. 
Occasionally I remarked in the east ol Norfolk that these birds were absent from their usual haunts for 
some months during winter. Under date of Sunday, March 30, 1873, the following occurs in my notes:— 
1 iee-Sparrovs were again numerous round the farm-buildings, this being almost the first day they had put in 
an appearance, a close watch having been kept for their return.” During the winters of 1871 and 1881 they 
wore to be observed continually throughout the cold weather in company with House-Sparrows, Finches, and 
Buntings round the cattle-yards of several of the farms. 
Although it has been asserted that Tree-Sparrows do not inhabit towns in Great Britain, 1 repeatedly noticed 
a few pair peeking about in the main road running through the north end of Yarmouth in the autumn of 1872. 
A\ hethcr these were migrants lately landed, or residents, I had no means of ascertaining. A single bird also 
attracted my attention in a garden rather nearer the outskirts of the town in the summer of 1883. 
1 he newly hatched broods of these Sparrows suffered severely from the fierce heat in the summer of 1873. 
Several pairs had built their nests under the tiled roofs of some cattle-sheds and piggeries adjoining the Falgate 
Inn at Potter lleigham, where the space was exceedingly cramped and little or no air could penetrate. Being 
anxious to procure specimens in the nestling plumage I removed the tiles, when the whole of the young, in all 
probability suffocated by the tropical heat, were discovered dead in the nests. After their bereavement I noticed 
three or four pairs of the birds building again between the 7th and 10th of July in some rank ivy overhanging 
an antiquated wall. I his situation had evidently been chosen with considerable forethought, the widely spreading 
limbs and dense foliage affording ample shade and protection from the rays of the sun. 
The male and female of this Sparrow are alike ; the young also exhibit the same markings, though some- 
w hat less clearly defined, in their first plumage. 
