HOUSE SPARROW. 
293 
The bill nearly perfectly conic. They abound 
in the various countries of the old world, extend- 
ing from north to south. In America the genera 
are fewer in number, and are still more limited 
in the southern continent. In Australia none 
have been discovered, their place there being 
filled up, and chiefly represented by the genus 
Estrelda, which ranges in the sub-family Cocco- 
thraustiiKB. The genus first to be noticed 
now, is 
Pyrgita. — Generic characters. — Bill strong; 
sides of the mandible swollen ; culmen 
slightly raised and bending ; maxillae of 
nearly equal strength; wings moderate in 
development, with the three first quills 
nearly of equal length ; tarsi and feet rather 
strong ; tail scarcely forked. 
Types, P. domestica, Hispanoliensis, Sfc. 
Europe, Asia, Africa. 
The House Sparrow, Pyrgitta domestica, 
Flem. — Passer domesticus. Will. Ray, Selby . — 
Fringilla domestica, Linn . — The House Sparrow 
of British authors. — The typical Sparrows are 
distributed generally, but in limited numbers, 
over the Old World, inhabiting countries of varied 
temperature. In colour, and the character of 
their markings, they closely agree ; and except 
in one or two instances where a patch of yellow 
occurs, particularly on the throat, the tints are 
deep chestnut with shades of brown and black 
