Page:The Common Birds of Bombay.djvu/158

 CHAPTER XXIV.

THE SPARROWS, BUNTINGS, AND LARKS.

The House Sparrow is one of the common birds

of Bombay. It is a handsomer bird here than it is in England. Its colours are brighter and better defined. On this account an ill-advised attempt was made to raise it to the rank of a distinct species, and it appears in Jerdon as Passer indicus. No good comes of these unnecessary distinctions. The Sparrow is a cosmopolitan, and its name in science is Passer domesticus. It is a vulgar little body, which tries to