The Oologists' Record, December i, 1921. 89 



I have a record of a c^ which was breeding in company with a 

 tew dozen pairs of P. domestictis who had nests in the roofs of our 

 office huts at Divisional Headquarters. I often used to watch him 

 at his nest in my office, but don't know whether his mate was of 

 his own species or P. domesticus. At any rate, his presence seemed 

 to be tolerated by the majority. 



Rock Sparroiv — Petronia petronia piiteicolor. 



This species I found common in the Judean Hills at elevations 

 of nearly 3,000 feet in the vicinity of Ramallah (12 miles north of 

 Jerusalem). I cannot say whether they are resident or migratory, 

 as my acquaintance with them was only during the month of June, 

 1918. They breed either in single pairs or colonies, in the sides 

 of wells, in holes in the walls of rock cisterns, in old walls, and in 

 the clefts and crannies in rocky cliffs. These birds are unmis- 

 takable on account of their plaintive twittering call, which becomes 

 rather monotonous, and by the white terminal spots to the tail 

 which are very conspicuous when in flight. The nests are often 

 hard to get at on account of their position, and when one has 

 reached the entrance-hole it is often too small to admit the passage 

 of a hand, or the nest may be placed too far inside. 



They are very like P. domestictis in their breeding habits, and 

 if a set of eggs is taken they are accommodating enough to lay 

 a second and even a third set in the same nest. Nests are very 

 similar in construction to those of the above-named species, but 

 consist chiefl}; of softer materials and more feathers, hair and w'ool, 

 but in some cases I only found a tin\- pad of wool and feathers 

 with a very scanty foundation of dry grass and beuts. One nest 

 was a large mass of cow's and goat's hair and sheep's wool, with 

 a few feathers mixed up in it, and simply swarmed with fleas of 

 three different kinds. The young birds make the nest and nesting 

 hole in a filth}- mess, so much so that it absolutely stinks. There 

 are probably two broods in the season, and I found young ones 

 able to fly on the 31st May, 1918. A further description of this 

 nest is as follows : — 



" The actual nesting site was in the walls of an old rock cistern 

 cut into a hill about 2,500 feet up. The diameter of the cistern 

 entrance was not more than 4 feet, the depth 6 feet, and the inside 

 diameter 15 to 20 feet. The nesting hole was fairly large and 

 about 4 feet from the bottom of the cistern ; the hole led into 



