1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault vii. lxii. 892 The solitarie sparrow is by nature giuen to be melancholike.
1678 J. Ray tr. F. Willughby ii. ii. i. xviii. 191 The solitary Sparrow..is of the bigness of a Blackbird.
1743 G. Edwards I. 18 The Solitary Sparrow. For Bigness, Shape of Body, and Proportion of Parts, it is like the Black-Bird.