All Rights Reserved. January, 1923. 



BIRD NOTES. 



THE 



Journal of the Foreign Bird Club. 



Some African Sparrows in My Aviaries in 1922. 



By W. Shore Baily, F.Z.S. 



Africa is a big continent, and can boast of a dozen or 

 rr.ore different species of Sparrows. Of these two or three 

 SI ecies only are at all regularly imported. Being" only 

 Sparrows 1 suppose there is not a very great demand for them, 

 which is, perhaps, not very much to be wondered at, as most 

 jf them are very plainly coloured and none have any song. 



However, there is one really handsome fellow amongst 

 them, and that is the Cape Sparrow (Passer arcuatus). The 

 cock bird has the upper parts, tail, and wings a rich cinnamon; 

 ihe crown of the head, feathers around the eyes, ear coverts, 

 cheeks, throat, and fore-neck black; a streak above the eye, sides 

 of neck, breast, abdomen, and under tail-coverts white. The 

 hen has the parts that are black in the male brownish, and the 

 white parts buffish-white. 



For many years I had two hens of this fine sparrow, but 

 w^as unable to get cocks, as none seem to have been imported 

 for quite a long period. However, about two years ago I found 

 a couple of cocks at Hamlyn's, among a lot of common South 

 African birds, and secured them. These I mated last Spring 

 with my two old hens, now seven years old at least. I turned 

 them into separate aviaries, and both pairs went to nest in due 

 course. 



One pair proved a failure, their two or three clutches of 

 eggs proving infertile. 



The other pair were more successful, for after one failure 

 three nice young ones left the nest. Two of these were hens 

 and were quite abnormal in plumage; the other— a cock— closely 

 resembled its female parent. The two little hens had the wings 

 and tail almost entirely white, other parts like the adult female, 



