Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/242

 230 SPARROW it nests both on the ground and in bushes; the eggs are four to six, broad ovate, light greenish white with specks of dark brown; both sexes incubate. The flight is short and much undulated; it goes south in winter, and seldom approaches houses nearer than gardens and orchards ; it is very active, feeding on in- sects, seeds, and berries. The old world spar- House Sparrow (Passer domcsticus). rows belong to the genus passer (Briss.), in which the wings are moderate, with the second and third quills rather longer than the first, and the moderate tail even or slightly forked. There are about 20 species, residing in culti- vated regions, even in the midst of cities ; the food consists of buds, seeds, grains, and in- sects ; the nest is in trees or hedges, and the eggs are four or five. The house sparrow (P. domesticus, Linn.) is 6} in. long and 9 in. in alar extent ; in the male the upper part of the head is light brownish gray, the sides of the neck grayish white, throat black, back and wings chestnut and black with a white band across the latter, and lower parts light brown- ish gray; in the female the head is grayish brown above and the lower parts light brown- ish gray. They often commit serious depre- dations in wheat fields ; though feeding chiefly on grain, they bring up their young on larvae, and a pair is said to destroy about 4,000 cater- pillars weekly in the breeding season; they are generally distributed over northern and central Europe, and are brighter colored in the country than in the cities; they have no song, except a single note, loud and by no means agreeable. This species has been in- troduced into the United States, where it thrives well, and does good service in destroy- ing canker worms and other injurious larvae SPARROW HAWK in and around the large cities and towns ; they require feeding and houses during the severe winters. They were first brought to New York about 1862, and there have been several later importations; they drive nearly all other birds from places where thejijabound. SPARROW HAWK, a small bird of prey of the falcon subfamily, and genus tinnunculu* (Vieill.), which differs from falco (Linn.) in having longer tarsi, covered in front with large transverse hexagonal scales. There are about a dozen species, widely distributed over the globe ; their flight is very graceful, irregu- lar, with occasional hoverings ; they eat small birds like sparrows, mice and moles, lizards, beetles, and grasshoppers; the nest is made of a few loose sticks on a rock or in a hollow tree, and the eggs are four to six. The Amer- ican sparrow hawk (T. sparverius, Vieill.) is one of the handsomest, most active, and abun- dant birds in the United States, and is found over the entire continent of America. It is 11 to 12 in. long, with an alar extent of 22 in. ; the crown is light red surrounded by blue, the latter color showing itself also on the wings; back light rufous, spotted with black ; tail darker, with broad black band near the end, tipped with white, and lateral feath- ers with broad black bars on the inner webs ; quills black, with white spots on inner webs ; throat and upper neck on sides white, with two black bands on the latter ; three spots on hind neck, and numerous ones on abdomen and sides, black ; white below, tinged with yel- lowish on breast ; the young birds have wider bands of black, and the females longitudinal black lines on the crown and stripes on the American Sparrow Hawk (Tinnunculus sparverius). tail. The eggs are dark cream or light buff, more or less spotted with brown, nearly spher- ical, 1J by 1 in. ; both sexes incubate, two broods being raised in the south ; the pairing time is from February to June, according to latitude. The European sparrow hawk (T.