<P> To many people across the world, the house sparrow is the most familiar wild animal and, because of its association with humans and familiarity, it is frequently used to represent the common and vulgar, or the lewd . One of the reasons for the introduction of house sparrows throughout the world was their association with the European homeland of many immigrants . Birds usually described later as sparrows are referred to in many works of ancient literature and religious texts in Europe and western Asia . These references may not always refer specifically to the house sparrow, or even to small, seed - eating birds, but later writers who were inspired by these texts often had the house sparrow in mind . In particular, sparrows were associated by the ancient Greeks with Aphrodite, the goddess of love, due to their perceived lustfulness, an association echoed by later writers such as Chaucer and Shakespeare . Jesus's use of "sparrows" as an example of divine providence in the Gospel of Matthew also inspired later references, such as that in Shakespeare's Hamlet and the Gospel hymn His Eye Is on the Sparrow . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Td> <Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> </Tr> </Table> </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> <Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> </Tr> </Table> </Td> </Tr> <Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> </Tr> </Table>

House sparrows in the northern part of north america