The FIELD or TREE SPARROW (_Passer montanus_) is met with in the middle
and northern parts of Europe. It is a small bird, of five and a half
inches long and seven and three-quarter inches across the wings, much
resembling the Common Sparrow in colour, but easily distinguishable from
it. The upper part of the head and neck are reddish brown, the mantle
rusty grey, and the bridles, throat, and a spot upon the cheeks black,
the remainder of the head being white. The lower part of the body is
light grey, the beak black, the feet a reddish horn colour. The sexes
closely resemble each other, and the young are scarcely distinguishable
from the parent birds.
This species inhabits more particularly the eastern side of our
hemisphere, extending even as far north as the Polar Regions; it is
met with in Asia, and is very numerous in Japan. Meadows, woods, and
pastures, are its favourite resorts, and it is only in winter that it
seeks the abodes of man, in the hope of obtaining food; when in the
woods, it lives in very large parties except during the breeding season.
In disposition the Field Sparrow closely resembles its congeners, but is
somewhat duller, owing to the little intercourse it has with our race.
Its bearing is superior to that of the House Sparrow, as the little
creature is courageous, animated, and very trim in its appearance; its
flight is light, and its pace easy and rapid; the call-note is short,
but is similar to that of the rest of its family. From autumn to spring,
seeds and berries constitute its principal food; in summer it feeds upon
caterpillars, aphides, and other insects, rendering good service to
mankind by clearing the trees and shrubs of these visitants, and thus
atoning for the damage it frequently does to fields of wheat and millet.
The nestlings are fed upon insects and milky grains of corn. The breeding
season lasts from April to August, and each pair rears two families
during the year, building their nests in holes of trees, or occasionally
in convenient nooks in houses or out-buildings; in structure they are
like those of other Sparrows. The brood consists of from five to seven
eggs, resembling those of their congeners, but somewhat smaller; the
parents sit alternately, the period of incubation lasting about thirteen
or fourteen days. The Field Sparrow frequently pairs with other species;
when this occurs the male is a Field and the female a House Sparrow; and
the young, in such cases, are also capable of laying fertile eggs. These
birds are easily caught by means of bird-lime and other simple traps, and
may be reared upon all kinds of seeds, varied with a little green food.