( 458 ) 



that bird is described as haviiis; " la tete et le cou bruii ronx sans tacbos, tout le 

 dessous dn corps gris roiix blond," besides otiier discrepancies. I shonld say it 

 might mnch sooner refer to Pas.^er cinitdmomcuK than to a form of domestifus, bnt 

 if is said to come from the Coromaiidel coast, where P. ci nnamomeus is not fotuid. 



Passer rujipecttis Bp., Consp. i. p. 509 is referable to a not very rare variety of 

 the North-east African race of P. kispaniolensis with rnfous-spottcd chest. 



Passer pallasi Bp., Compte Rend, xxxvii. p. 915 (1853 — Northern Asia, in 

 Mns. Paris) is not mentioned in the "t'atalogne of Birds." It is evidently the 

 Siberian form of Passer hispaniolensis, thongh tlie sides are said to bo nnspotted. 

 1 am obliged to Dr. Onstalet for kindly examining the type in the Paris Museum, 

 which was purchased from Verreanx. 



I'assfr pioceisoma Bp., Compte Rend, xxxvii. p. 915 (1^53 — Frankfurt Mns., 

 no locality stated) is not mentioned in the " Catalogne of Birds." It is no doubt 

 a synonym of Fhilaeterus socius {Cat. B. xiii. p. 249), and not a Passer at all. 



Passer ruppeli (sic) Bp., Consp. Av. i. p. 510 (1850 — " Afr. or.," in Mus. 

 Frankfurt) is in Cat. B. xii. p. 318 quoted as a synonym of Passer kispaniolensis, 

 lint nothing in the description refers to that bird ! P. ruppeli is in fact nothing 

 else than Plocepasser «?<;3«/e?7«os«s— notwithstanding the ridiculous protest of its 

 author in the Compte Rend, xxxvii. p. 915. To which other bird in the 

 Senckenbergian Mnseum or anywhere else could the words " Cinereo-brunneus, 

 pileo dilute rnfo, gula alba, vitta hinc inde marginali nigricante," etc., refer I 

 Probably Prince Bonaparte got his notes mixed, for he says of his Passer ruppeli 

 " Pyj-gita cisalpina ex Afr. or. Riipp." but that is an erroneous note, not aifecting 

 the diagnosis, which clearly describes Plocepasser superciliosus. 



Passer Confucius is quoted {Cat. B. xii. p. 309) among the synonyms of 

 P. domesticus. First of all the quotation should be Compte Rend, xxxvii. p. 915 

 (1853), and not " Notes Orn. (Joll. Delattre," to enable the unfortunate reader 

 to find the publication. Why it is quoted among the synonyms of P. domesticus 

 is difficult to see, as the description is that of a specimen of Passer jagoensis. 

 I am obliged to Prof. Onstalet, who has kindly informed nie that the tyjjc is 

 a specimen of P. jagoensis with a somewhat dark crown. The locality C!hina 

 (Botta coll.) is an error, of course. 



The African .Sparrows consist of a number of very distinct groups. In North 

 Africa we have Pa,sser domesticus in various races. It is more than lumping, and 

 not pardonable, to unite Passer rujidorsali.s with Passer domesticus pure and simple. 

 Shelley's remarks in vol. iii. of his Birds of Africa, p. 240, are not correct. 

 Passer domestica arboreus Bonaparte is the correct name of this form, which 

 extends along the Nile valley from Dongola and Berber to 12° north lat. (cf. 

 Rothschild and Wollaston, Ibis, 1902, p. 9). 



Passer castanopterus Blytli and Passer emini-bey (Hartl.) are very singular 

 species standing quite by themselves. P. castanopterus is apparently nearest and 

 probably related to the Indian P. rutilnns cinnamomeus, but the back is quite 

 different. Hartlaub described the other species as " Sorella emini-bey," I therefore 

 spell the name Passer emini-bey, because the sei)aratiug of the specific name into 

 two parts might lead some one to believe that " bey " was a subspecies of 

 " emini." 1 cannot, however, see how we can alter "emini-bey" into "emini": 

 that would be quite a new method of nomenclatare, and we could just as well 

 alter Vanessa C-album into Variessa C. 



Another and larger group is that of Passer difusus and its various subspecies. 



