364 Philippine Journal of Science 1920 
Province, it turns sharply to the south, the land becomes more 
elevated, with alternate stretches of sand beach and rocky shore 
and the water near the land is deeper. South of Manila the 
coast extends in a gentle curve to Cavite and Cafiacao. In this 
direction a fine sand beach extends from Pasay to Paranaque. 
Inland, a few kilometers southeast of Manila, the land has a 
gentle slope to the slightly elevated area that overlooks Lake Bay. 
The military reservation of Fort William McKinley is situated 
on this high ground. 
CONSPICUOUS BIRDS OF MANILA 
As the ship slowly enters the fine artificial basin that is Manila 
harbor, it is usually attended by a dozen or more scavenger 
hawks—Haliastur intermedius Gurney. The adult is a hand- 
some bird, having the head and lower parts white and the rest 
of the plumage rich chestnut, but immature individuals are very 
commonplace in appearance. This species is especially abundant 
about shipping, both in bays and rivers, and feeds on scraps from 
ships’ galleys and on other garbage. Occasionally individuals 
or small flocks of Sterna boreotis, Hydrochelidon hybrida, and 
Larus ridibundus may be seen in the harbor, but they are seldom 
abundant. 
The first land bird to greet the visitor to Manila will doubtless 
be a fringillid, Passer montanus (Linneus). This species is a 
native of Europe that is now well established in Manila and in 
many of the towns along the railroads or that are reached by 
water transportation. It is found in Dagupan, north of Manila, 
on the railroad and probably farther north and has reached many 
of the towns on Lake Bay. Outside of Luzon the mountain 
sparrow has extended its range to Cebu. This sparrow may be 
seen in small flocks along wagon roads and railroads and in old 
fields at some distance from houses. At first sight the mountain 
sparrow is easily mistaken for the European house sparrow, 
Passer domesticus (Linnzeus), but the two species are sufficiently 
distinct. The former does not seem to increase with the rapidity 
of its less favorably known cousin and is not so great a pest. 
STARLINGS AND LOCUSTS 
The next bird that will be noted even by those who are not 
devoted to ornithology is a slate-gray starling, Zthiopsar cris- 
tatellus (Linneus), about the size of an American robin. When 
this bird flies, a white band across the primary quills is conspic- 
uously displayed. The feathers of the frons are long and erect 
