British Birds in Their Haunts

by C. A. Johns

THE HOUSE SPARROW
PASSER DOMESTICUS

Crown and back of the head dark bluish ash; lore, throat, and front of the neck black; above the eyes a band of uniform reddish brown, intermixed with a few small white feathers; upper feathers dark brown, edged with reddish brown; a single transverse white bar on the wing; cheeks, sides of the neck, and under parts greyish white. Female—head, nape, neck, and breast ash-brown; above the eye a light yellowish brown streak; rest of the plumage less bright. Length five inches and three-quarters. Eggs white, spotted and speckled with dark grey and brown.

What were the haunts of the Sparrow at the period when men dwelt in tents, and there were neither farmhouses nor villages, much less towns and cities, it were hard to say. Certain it is now that thoroughly wild Sparrows are not to be met with in districts remote from human dwellings and cultivation; they have left the hillside and forest as if by common consent, and have pitched their tents where man builds, or ploughs, or digs, and nowhere else. In the city, the seaport town, the fishing village, the hamlet, the farmhouse, nay, near the cot on the lone waste and by the roadside smithy, they are always present, varying in the amount of confidence they place in their patrons, but all depending on man to a certain extent. And not only do they court his society, but they have adopted his diet. Whatever is the staple food of a household, the Sparrows that nestle around will be right pleased to share it; bread, meat, potatoes, rice, pastry, raisins, nuts, if they could have these for the asking, they would not trouble themselves to search farther; but obliged, as they are, to provide for themselves, they must be content with humble fare; and so skilful are they as caterers, that whatever other birds may chance to die of starvation, a Sparrow is always round and plump, while not a few have paid for their voracity by their lives. Much difference of opinion exists as to whether Sparrows should be courted by man as allies, or exterminated as enemies. The best authorities on this point have come to the conclusion that their numbers must be lessened, and that the most humane way to do this is to tear down nests before the young are hatched out. The fact that great efforts are at the present time being made to introduce them into New Zealand, where the corn crops suffer great injury from the attacks of insects, which the presence of Sparrows would, it is believed, materially check, leads to the conclusion that their mission is one of utility. That Sparrows consume a very large quantity of corn in summer there can be no doubt; as soon as the grain has attained its full size, and long before it is ripe, they make descents on the standing corn, and if undisturbed will clear so effectually of their contents the ears nearest to the hedges, that this portion of the crop is sometimes scarcely worth the threshing. During harvest they transfer their attention to the sheaves, while the reapers and binders are occupied elsewhere; as gleaners they are indefatigable; they participate, too, in the joys of harvest home, for their food is then brought to their very doors. The most skilful binder leaves at least a few ears exposed at the wrong end of the sheaf, and these are searched for diligently in the rick; and the barns must be well closed indeed into which they cannot find admission. At threshings and winnowings they are constant attendants, feeding among the poultry, and snatching up the scattered grains under the formidable beak of Chanticleer himself. At seed-time their depredations are yet more serious, as they now come in not simply for a share of the produce, but undermine the very foundations of the future crop. I once had the curiosity to examine the crop of a Sparrow which had been shot as it flew up from a newly-sown field, and found no less than forty-two grains of wheat. A writer in the Zoologist, who professes himself a deadly enemy of the Sparrow, states that he once took 180 grains of good wheat from the crops of five birds, giving an average of thirty-six for a meal. Now if Sparrows had the opportunity of feeding on grain all the year round, they would be unmitigated pests, and a war of extermination against them could not be waged too vigorously; but during the far greater portion of the year they have not the power of doing mischief, and all this time they have to find food for themselves. Against their will, perhaps, they now hunt for the seeds of various weeds, especially the wild mustard; and these being smaller than grains of corn and less nutritive, they consume an immense number of them, varying their repast with myriads of caterpillars, wireworms, and other noxious grubs; also they devour small beetles (called hay-chaffers) when the hay lies in swathes on the field. They thus compensate, certainly in part, perhaps wholly, for the mischief they do at other seasons; and it is even questionable whether, if a balance were struck between them and the agriculturists, the obligation would not be on the side of the latter.

It is scarcely necessary to say much of the habits of a bird which stands on such familiar terms with the human race as the Sparrow. During no period of the year do Sparrows live together in perfect amity; if half a dozen descend to pick up a handful of scattered crumbs, each in his turn will peck at any other who comes too near his share of the feast, and, with a peculiar sidelong shuffle or hop, will show his intention of appropriating as large a portion of the feeding-ground as he can. In spring, this bickering assumes a more formidable character. A duel is commenced among the branches of a tree, obstinate and noisy; all the Sparrows within hearing flock to the scene of combat, joining at first with their voices, and finally with their beaks; a general riot ensues, with as little object seemingly as an Irish 'row'; for suddenly the outcry ceases, and the combatants return to their various occupations. A writer in the Naturalist gives an account of a fray of this kind, during which three male birds fell at his feet one after another either dead or dying; but cases of this kind are very rare.

Sparrows build their nests at a considerable elevation from the ground, but are by no means particular as to the locality. At the period when most farmhouses and cottages were thatched, the eaves were their favourite resort, and here they hollowed out for themselves most comfortable dwellings. The general employment of tiles or slates has interfered with this arrangement; but they will fix upon any projection, niche, crack, or hole which will hold a nest, and if these are all occupied, content themselves with a tree; but, as far as my own observation goes, the number built in trees far exceeds that to be found in other localities. Very frequently they appropriate the nest of the House Martin. The nest itself is a rude structure, composed mainly of straw and hay, and lined with feathers and any other soft materials which they can find. Two or three broods are reared every year, the number of eggs being usually five. The young are fed on worms, caterpillars, and insects of various kinds.

THE MOUNTAIN OR TREE SPARROW
PASSER MONTÁNUS

Crown and back of the head chestnut-brown; lore, ear-coverts, and throat black; neck almost surrounded by a white collar; upper plumage resembling the last; wing with two transverse white bars. The female scarcely differs from the male. Length five inches and a half. Eggs as in the last.

The Mountain Sparrow seems scarcely to deserve its name, as it is by no means confined to mountainous districts. It is abundant all over the European continent, and is to be met with here and there in many parts of England in the east of Scotland and of late years in Ireland and in the Hebrides; but it is nowhere so abundant as the House Sparrow, which it resembles in all respects, except that the head is of a bright chestnut colour, and the neck wears a white collar. I have never seen it except in society with the common species, and could never detect any difference either in flight or note; but other observers state that the flight is slow and constrained, and the note assumes more the character of a song. The nest is placed in soft rotten wood of pollard willows and other trees, in hollow trees and under the thatch of buildings.