SUMMER VISITORS 105 



need not detain us long, for, save his respectability, 

 he has nothing in particular to commend him. I allude 

 to the yellow-throated sparrow (Gymnorhis flavicollis). 

 This bird probably sometimes passes for a hen house 

 sparrow ; close inspection, however, reveals a yellow 

 patch on the throat. According to Jerdon this creature 

 has much the same manners and habits as the common 

 sparrow. This I consider libellous. The yellow- 

 throated sparrow is a bird of retiring disposition and 

 I have never heard of one forcing its way into a sahib's 

 bungalow. It nestles in a hole in a tree. Having lined 

 the ready-made cavity with dry grass and feathers, 

 it lays four eggs which are thickly blotched all over 

 with sepia, chocolate brown, or purple. A pair of 

 these birds lives in the octagonal aviary at the Lahore 

 Zoo. 



