PASSER MONTANUS, Ray.

«

Tree-Sparrow.

Passer montanus, Ray, Syn., p. 87.
Fringilla montana, Linn. Syst., tom. i. p. 234.
Pyrrhula Hamburgensis, Briss. Orn., tom. iii. p. 314.
Loxia Hamburgia, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 854.
Passer montanina, Pall.
Fringilla campestris, Schrank.
Pyrgita montana, Cuv.
Passer Hamburgensis, Leach.
septentrionalis, Brehm.

Iv must not be supposed that the trivial name of Tree-Sparrow is more appropriate to this species than to
the House-Sparrow ; for both birds inhabit trees, and alike construct their nests among their branches and
in the holes of their hollow stems. There is, however, a very great difference in the disposition of the two
species

 

the Tree-Sparrow never seeking the favour or protection of man, and seldom approaching his
dwelling nearer than the pollard-trees on the village green. If it should construct its nest among the thatch
of the farmer’s barn, it must be regarded as an unusual occurrence. Unlike the Domestic Sparrow, it never
enters large towns or the interior of cities; and hence the London and Tree Sparrows are as different in
disposition as they are in their colour and markings.

‘‘The Tree-Sparrow,” says Mr. Yarrell, ‘is a rare species in most of the extreme southern counties of
England, but is not included in the bird-catalogues of Sussex, Dorsetshire, and Devonshire, and Mr. Rodd
of Penzance is aware of only one instance of its occurrence in Cornwall. It is not uncommon in Shropshire,
and has been observed about Chat Moss in Lancashire. On the eastern side of England, this bird appears
to be a winter visitant in Essex; it is also found in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Suffolk, Norfolk,
Cambridgeshire, Rutland, Lincolnshire, various localities in Yorkshire, in Durham, and probably in
Northumberland ; but I am unable to trace it much further north than Newcastle. It does not appear to
have been noticed in Scotland, and Mr. Thompson was unaware of its existence in Ireland. Professor
Nilsson includes it in the birds of Sweden, and in his ‘ Fauna of Scandinavia,’ where he says it frequents
gardens. In the southern part of Europe it is well known, being rather a common bird in France,
Provence, Spain, and Italy.” Mr. Yarrell seems to have been in error, when he stated that this bird was
not found in Devonshire; for Mr. Gatcombe, of Plymouth, informs me that he has met with it in the
neighbourhood of that town upon several occasions during the last few years.

With regard to the distribution of the Tree-Sparrow, I may remark that, however great may be the range
of the Domestic Sparrow, and wide-spread the area over which it is found, the babitat of the present bird ts
still more extensive; for not only does it inhabit Europe, Algeria, Asia Minor, and India, but it is nowhere
more common than in China and Japan, specimens from which distant countries do not differ in any
respect from those killed in England, not even so much as would be necessary to constitute them a local
race. It is very singular that so many of our birds should be found in China and Japan; I say, our birds,
because we find little or no difference between English and Chinese examples, not even so much as is
occasionally observable in specimens obtained in France and Germany. I defy any ornithologist to point
out a difference between Chinese specimens of the Hawfinch, Tree-Sparrow, and Wryneck, and examples of
those birds killed in England.

Speaking of this bird as observed by him in India, Mr. Blyth says :—

“When first at Akjab, during the rainy season, I remarked the British Tree-Sparrow (Passer montanus) to
be the common species about the streets, considerably outnumbering the Indian House-Sparrow (P. domesticus,

Ind. var.); whereas in the cold season the latter is the prevalent species about Akjab. Southward,

however, I only on two occasions saw the common Indian Sparrow—once at Maulmein, and once in a

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Burmese village higher up the Salwin; whereas the ‘Tree-Sparrow 1s everywhere in extreme abundance,
Java, having precisely the same habits as the

extending southward to Singapore, and likewise inhabiting
At Thayet Myo, on the Irawadi,

other. I observed it numerously as far south as Tavoy and Mergut.
Dr. Jerdon informs me that not only are P. domesticus and P. montanus common, but also a third species,
my pretty little P. flaveolus. When at Pahpoon, in Upper Martaban, in November last, three or four pairs
Y rj zk 5 > c c S| a SU fi ili r manner, anc
of P. montanus appeared for one day only, entering the few human abodes in the most familiar manne nd
s a , = wana ye aS ”
nesting-places ; but I saw no others in that wild forest-region.

apparently seeking convenient nooks for
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habits of the bird in India are slightly different from

It will be seen from the above passage that the