TREE-SPARROW
Passer montanus (Linnæus)
TREE-SPARROW
Passer montanus
Although so closely allied to the preceding pest, the Tree-Sparrow is a bird of very different temperament and habits, and worthy to be numbered among our bird friends. Many spend the winter with us, but it is partially migratory, and their numbers are increased each spring by arrivals from abroad. It is a rather local and scarce bird, but even in places where they are common they are so shy that they are hardly ever seen, and are considered in consequence much rarer than really is the case. It shuns the habitations of man, whether because of the overpowering insolence of its larger relative or not is a debatable point, but the fact remains that if we want to see it we must find some secluded and undisturbed spot. Holes in pollard willows or in some hedgerow tree are generally chosen for a nesting-site, inside which a substantial nest of grass abundantly lined with feathers is formed. Five eggs form the clutch. These are greyish in ground colour, delicately but thickly mottled with brown, and it is an almost invariable rule that one egg of a clutch should be conspicuously lighter than the others. Little is known of the habits of this bird; its food consists chiefly of seeds and berries, but in summer insects form a large part of its diet and the young are almost entirely reared on them. Its notes and song very closely resemble those of its commoner relative but are slightly more musical and less harsh.
The adult has the crown and nape dark chestnut, rest of upper parts chestnut with darker centres to the feathers; upper and lower wing coverts tipped with white and forming two distinct bands. Cheeks white with a triangular black patch in the centre. Chin and throat black; rest of under parts greyish white passing to brown on the flanks. Length 5·6 in.; wing 2·75 in. The sexes are alike in plumage. The young are similar to their parents but duller.
It is a scarce and local species but widely distributed, and doubtless from its retiring habits and resemblance to the House-Sparrow it is often overlooked.
THE CHAFFINCH
Fringilla cœlebs, Linnæus
“Pink, pink!” Who among us does not know the Chaffinch with his bright “pink, pink,” and perky walk, as he goes down the garden path in front of us, or flies into the nearest shelter showing off the white bars on his wings as he does so. No matter how severe the winter or how hot the summer, he is always with us, a constant visitor to our gardens, and when we go into the woods and fields we shall still find him equally at home. Early in February he begins his song, which consists merely of a short run down the scale ending up in the syllables “de-wi.” Pairing takes place early in the season, but some weeks elapse before he thinks of nesting, well knowing that the insects so necessary for his young are not yet born. At the end of April his mate will begin to build the nest, while her lord and master sits quietly by, encouraging her with his song but not deigning to soil his beak or feet with honest toil. The site chosen is very variable; the fork of some giant tree or against the trunk of a hedgerow elm supported by a lateral shoot are the places most frequently used, but it is often situated in a hedge, and sometimes in the ivy against a wall. The nest itself is a beautiful mass of moss, grass, and wool carefully felted together with cobwebs and thickly lined with hair, lichens being often added on the outside to make it assimilate better with the surroundings. The eggs, generally four in number, are greenish blue, spotted and clouded with deep reddish brown, but occasionally the markings are entirely absent.
CHAFFINCH
Fringilla cœlebs