SPARROWS. 



101 



three to six in number, and vary considerably in size, 

 ehape, and colonr ; they are usually of a pale ereenish- 

 blue ground colour, thickly blotched and mottled with 

 various shades of brown and lavender. They average 

 0.75 by 0.58. They are hatched at the end of twelve 

 days. The young remain in the nest for about twenty- 

 four days, during which time they arc fe<l on grubs, 

 caterpillars, .ind partially digested food from the crops 

 of the old bir<ls." The Cape Sparrow may be met with 

 from time to time in the ijird market ; a pair was pur- 

 chased by the I^inclon Zcologiral Society in 1887. This 

 species was bred by Mr. Seth-SniitJi in 1901, who pub- 

 lished an account of his experience, illustrated by an 

 excellent plate repiesenting ooth sexes, in The Avicul- 

 lura! Mai/azine, 1st seiies. Vol. VII., pp. 165-167. 



(iREVHE.\l)ED OR Sw.\INSON's SpARROW 



[Passer di/fusu-t [xirainsoni]),. 



Above rufous-brown ; lower back and rump bright 

 chestnut; lesser and median coverts chestnut, the inner 

 median coverts white-topped ; greater coverts brown, 

 with the outer edges reddisli ; flights dark brown with 

 reddish edges; upper tail-coverts and tail-feathers 

 brown, with paler margins ; head and neck all round 

 and under surface dark grey, paler on throat and 

 abdomen ; und«r tail-coverts dull brown, edged wiith 

 ■whitisli ; under wing coverts and axillaries rufous-brown, 

 the latter ed^ed with white; flights below dull ashy, 

 slightly reddish on inner margins; beak black; feet 

 reddish-brown; irides chocolate. Female paler, abdo- 

 men and under tail-covetts whiter, otherwise like the 

 male.* Habitat, Bogos-Iand and Abyssiinia to the 

 Zanzibar district in East Africa (Sharpe) ; Afnica gene- 

 rally. (Shelley.) 



Von Heugliii l"Orn. Nordost Africas," Vol. I., pt. 'i, 

 p. 635) speaks of tliis Sparrow as living in pairs. He 

 says: "Its behaviour, food, and call-note sLanip it ns 

 a true Sparrow, only the call-note is more grating. We 

 found its nests throughout the entire rainy season, some- 

 times in th.atches, under roof-rafters, in holes in the 

 wall, sometimes in thick thorn-bushes." 



" The three-four eggs, moreover, much resemble those 

 of the House Sparrow, are not larger, but at the s.ime 

 time somewhat srrooth and more thick-shelled, marked 

 ■with deep eartlvy-browm on a pale brownish ground." 

 He figures an egg (PI. 48, fig. 2) measurhisr 0.8 by 0.7H. 

 "Mr. Kuschel describes eggs from the Gold Coast .as of 

 a stout oval form, with thin shells and a moderate gloss, 

 but very variable in colour, the ground being white or 

 rusty yellow. Those with the white ground h,Tve dusky 

 violet or brownish-red spots, clustered together at the 

 thick end, so as almost to hide the pale groiind coloiu", 

 while those of a rusty yellow shade lack the Wolet 

 marks, but the obtuse end is covered with brownish-red 

 spotis. Thev measure 0.77 to 0.88 bv 0.63 to 0.64." 

 (Shelley, "Birds of Africa," Vol. III., "p. 255.) 



Capt. Shelley calls this sjiecies P. cliffiixiis, which 

 Dr. Sharpe has regarded as a distinct si>ecie& and Dr. 

 Hartert as a distinct subspecies. He says that with 

 an extremely fine series before him he is unable to find 

 a difference to distingui.Oi it as a sub-species; .nnd this 

 1 can quite believe, seeing that our common Sparrow 

 varies considerably in measuremeint and in purity of 

 colouring. This bird is occasionally imported singly, 

 or in small numbers, among other African birds. Tlie 

 "London Zoological Society ha.s re<»ived it from South 

 Africa, and in 1895 I purchased one out of several then 

 In the market; it proved to be a hen, and, being kept 

 with Weavers and Buntings, it proved harmless enough, 



• The feniRle described >>v ItusR was evidently in winter 

 pimnnce, th? beak being horn 3-ellowigh with whiter under 

 mandible. 



but it never uttered a note. It died .\ugUot 17th, 1900. 

 I gave a short account of the bird in The AvicuUural 

 Magazine, 1st series, Vol. II., pp. 5-6. 



Dkskbt Si'ARROw (Passer simplex). 

 Creamy buff, slightly ashy on crown and mantle; 

 median wing-covens pure wnite; greater coverts dull 

 black, bro.adly tipped with white; flights dull huffish, 

 browner towards the extremities, and edged with white, 

 which becomes .slightly yellowi,-,h on the outer wei)s of 

 the -secondaries ; tail "pale dull brown, darker towards 

 the tip, and with buff margins, widest in centre 

 feathers; the feathers at sides of forehead, in front of 

 eye, and a few above the oar-coverts, black; cheeks, 

 ear-coverts, and sides of tliroat white; chin and throat 

 black; beak clear brownish, with the base white; feet 

 yellowish ; irides dark brown. Female yellower above, 

 and without any black on head and neck. Habitat, 

 Kordofan to the Libyan and Sahara deserts {Shclletj). _ 



Von Heuglin s.iys"that this Sp.irrow "feeds on grain 

 near habitations, "and in its habits resembles P. mon- 

 tuiius, does not freijueiit the mountains, hut inhabits 

 the lowlands of Kordofan, Sennaar, and the wastes 

 between Berber and Suakin." He says that the egg 

 resembles that of the House Sparrow; but to anyone 

 who examined the series of eggs of the latter bird figured 

 in my "Birds' Eggs of the British Lsles," PI. IV., figs. 

 132-143, most of which were taken by myself, .such a 

 rentark might mean anything, inasmuch as the eggs of 

 the House Sparrow vary from the type of the Pied Wag- 

 tail to that of a Comiiion Bunting or a Tree Pipit. 

 They are neither constant in size, shape, colouring, nor 

 character of marking. Some eggs are like a common 

 type of Cuckoo's egg; others almost like that of the 

 Robin; others, again, like an elongated egg of the 

 Skylark. Therefore, while saying that Pass^er simplex 

 lays eggs like those cf the House Sparrow, Von Heuglin 

 might as well have completed his description by assur- 

 ing us that they were about the size of a, piece of chalk ; 

 but, oddly eno'ugh, he is precise in his measurements — 



0.85 by 0.6. , .^■ 



Dr. Ruse appeared to be unaware that this species 

 had been exhibited at the London Zoological Gardene, 

 and therefore dismissed it in a few words as a bird vp- 

 likcly to appear in the bird-market, and as rare in itJ 

 native country. . • „ ,- i t 



J. I. S. Whitaker ("Birds of Tunisia, \ ol. 1., 

 p. 209) says: " Althoaigh not uncommon in the localities 

 it frequents, the bird appears to be somewhat local in 

 its distribution, and is not found everywhere in the 

 sandy desert." 



On p 210 ilie remarks :—" There seems to be some 

 difference of opinion as to the description of country 

 and localities most frequented by the Desert Sparrow, 

 and also regarding the situations selected by it for its 

 nest A" the evidence, however, points to the species 

 being partial to sandy Bjx>ts, and it probably occurs 

 both on the oiitskirt's- of the oa.'es and in the more open 

 country and nests in trees as well as in the holes of 

 well-sides, or similar sites. Mr. Dodson, alluding to 

 the birds of this species met with in Tripoli, says that 

 he observed them only in p.ilm-tree^. where, apparently 

 they were breeding. Baron v. Erlanger . . . found 

 a nest in the hollowr of an old desert tree, and -"a^. in- 

 formed by Herr Paul W. H. Spatz that these birds 

 nested among the sticks forming the nests of someof 

 the kr<-er Raptores. built on similar desert trees. IJr. 

 Koenig? on the other band, appears to have found the 

 species nesting in the crevices of well-sides. 



"In many of its habits, as well as m its note, the 

 Desert Spa"rrow seems to resemble the Tree Sparrow. 



