PASSEIJ. 



237 



p. 600; Sharpe, Cat. B. M. xii, p. :507 ; Barnes, Bird* Horn. 

 p. 266 ; < kites in Humes N. # E. 2nd ed. ii, p. 159. 

 The Indian House-Sparrow, Jerd. ; Gouriya, Hind, in the North ; CA«n 

 and Khas churi, Hind, in the South ; CAan'fl or CAfltfa, Ben/. ; Uri-pichike, 

 Tel. : Adiki lam kuravi, Tain. 



Fig. fi7. — Head of P. domesticus. 



Coloration . Male. Head from forehead to nape ashy grey ; 

 lores and round the eye blackish ; cheeks, ear-coverts, and sides of 

 neck pure white ; a broad streak from the eye over the ear-coverts, 

 and passing partially round the end of them, chestnut ; chin, throat, 

 and the median portion of the breast black, some of the lowermost 

 feathers margined with ashy; remainder of lower plumage ashy 

 white ; back and scapulars chestnut, the terminal two thirds of the 

 inner webs black ; rump and upper tail-coverts ashy grey ; tail 

 brown, margined paler ; lesser wing-coverts chestnut ; median 

 coverts blackish, broadly tipped with white ; greater coverts 

 blackish, broadly margined with rufous and tipped paler; quills 

 dark brown, margined with pale rufous. 



l-\ male. The head from the forehead to the nape and the 

 extreme upper back with the rump and upper tail-coverts brown ; 

 the back and scapulars pale rufous, with the inner webs chiefly 

 black ; tail brown, edged paler ; a rather broad supercilium pale 

 rufous-white ; sides of the head ashy brown ; the whole lower 

 plumage ashy white, darker on the breast ; lesser wing-coverts 

 brown ; median coverts blackish, broadly tipped with rufous-white ; 

 greater coverts and wings dark brown, edged with pale rufous. 



In fresh or autumn plumage the male has the feathers of the 

 back and breast margined with ashy ; but these margins soon 

 wear off. 



In summer the bill of the male is usually black, but this is not 

 always the case ; in winter the colour is a light horn-colour but 

 occasionally black ; the female has the bill always brown ; in both 

 sexes the iris is brown, the legs pale brown. 



Length 6 ; tail 2-2 ; wing 3 ; tarsus "75 ; bill from gape '55. 

 The House-Sparrow of the East differs from the House-Sparrow 

 of the "West in being much whiter about the sides of the head, and 

 in having more black below the eye and at the base of the cheeks, 

 but these characters vary considerably and it is not advisable to 

 keep the two birds distinct. 



Distribution. The entire Empire and Ceylon, except the 

 Andamans and Nicobais and the portion of Tenasserim south of 



