9 8 
PICTURES OF BIRD LIFE. 
for their share of harvest. As soon as the grain is stacked these flocks return to 
their old haunts. 
In Norway the Sparrow occurs locally along the coast to the Loffodens and 
Alten. In Sweden, too, and the northern parts of Russia it is common. In Asia 
it has a very wide range, from Yarkand to Siam and Ceylon. In the Nile valley, 
also, it resides, as well as in Algeria and Morocco, though not universally distributed. 
Of recent years it has been imported to North America, Bermuda and Cuba, the 
Mauritius, Australia and New Zealand. “ In most of these places, says Professor 
Newton, “it will, of course, oust some of the indigenous species, and will most 
probably in a few years become an intolerable nuisance. 
The colours of this bird are somewhat variable. Albinoes are far from 
uncommon. We have seen one flying about in the outskirts of a populous 
town. 
White observes that “House Sparrows build under eaves in the spring; as 
the weather becomes hotter they get out for coolness, and nest in plum-trees and 
apple-trees. These birds have been known sometimes to build in rooks nests, and 
sometimes in the forks of boughs under rooks’ nests.” In our own garden for 
two seasons a magpie built its nest in a sycamore; in the third year a wood- 
pigeon took possession of the nest, and on ascending we found in it one egg. 
Under the nest about a wheelbarrow-load of sticks, straws, &c., had accumulated, 
brought by the successive tenants, and Sparrows had seized upon this for a colony. 
One nest we found with five eggs in it, a second had four, the third one, and 
a fourth was ready for eggs. This is a regular habit of the Spanish Sparrow 
(P. Hi span io lens is ). It breeds in colonies in the foundations of the nests of eagles 
and other large raptorial birds. 
A congener which is very liable to be mistaken for the House Spariow, and 
is common enough throughout England, but in smaller colonies than the other, is 
the Tree Sparrow ( P . montanus). Professor Newton says that their note will at 
once distinguish the birds; and both sexes are very nearly alike amongst the Tree 
Sparrows, whereas they are well marked in the House Sparrows. The Tree Sparrow, 
too, may be known by its reddish-brown crown, the black patch on the sides of 
its neck, and its doubly-barred wings. It generally prefers trees growing in the 
open country to those near the abodes of man, but very frequently builds in tiled 
roofs, the thatch of barns, and the like. Mr. Cordeaux says that he has sometimes 
seen in Lincolnshire five or six hundred of these birds together. We, too, have 
noticed them" in companies. It has recently been ascertained that a large number 
