Birds of the Zarafschan Basin. 417 



This is the common House-Sparrow of Turkestan. It is 

 abundant in the towns of the cultivated area. 



26. Passer hispaniolensis. 



Passer hispaniolensis Sharpe, Cat. B. xii. p. 317. 



cJ. Bokhara. 4, 8 Dec, 1907. Nos. 202,217, 219, 221. 



S . „ 14 Nov., 1907. No. 182. 



?. „ 4, 8 Dec, 1907. Nos. 203, 201, 222, 



223, 224. 

 This Sparrow is resident in the reed-beds of the lower 

 Zarafschan Valley at 200 ft. 



27. Passek ammodendri. 



Passer ammodendri Sharpe, Cat. B. xii. p. 337. 



(J. Bokhara, 14 Nov., 1907. No. 181. 



1 never visited the saxaul forests on the sand-wastes of 

 Transcaspia, so I never met with the Saxaul Sparrow in its 

 true haunts. This single specimen I obtained on the lower 

 Zarafschan, out of a flock of P. hispaniolensis. 



28. Petronia stulta. 



Petronia petronia Sharpe, Cat. B. xii. p. 289. 



<J . Samarkand. 25 April, 1908. Nos. 361, 362, 363. 



Large flocks of these birds haunt the country just below 

 the snow-line, moving higher up as the snow melts. 



The testes of these specimens were much enlarged, and 

 the birds are probably early breeders. 



29. MONTIFRINGILLA ADAMSI. 



Montifringilla adamsi Sharpe, Cat. B. xii. p. 261. 



J . Ak-sai Plateau. 20 Aug., 1908. No. 607. 



I obtained one example of Adams' Snow-Finch at a height 

 of 12,000 ft. on the Ak-sai Plateau, at the extreme south- 

 west corner of the Tian Shan. The birds were very common 

 there, and in every stage of plumage. But I have also seen 

 them at 5000 ft. on the Hissar Mts. during a very cold spell 

 in mid-winter. 



The Ak-sai Plateau is, probably, the northern limit of 



M. adamsi. Severtzoff does not mention it at all in his 



Fauna of Turkestan,' Cashmere and Tibet being the true 



