PASSER ARCUATUS. 249 



the species generally distributed over Damara and Great Nara- 

 aqualand in the neighbourhood of water and dwellings, and 

 resembling our House Sparrow in habits and voice. Stark 

 writes : *' I found it quite common on the coast of Little 

 Namaqualand and at Saldanha Bay. At Cape Town it 

 abounds and has become perfectly acclimatised to town 

 life; in many parts of the Great Karroo ifc is a common 

 species, as at Prince Albert, but in the fertile country 

 to the south of the Swartzberg Range it is very scarce, 

 and it has never been heard of in the Knysna district 

 up to the jjresent time, 1898. This species is very common 

 on the Orange river, according to Dr. Bradshaw. In Natal it 

 is absent from the coast district, but becomes common in Upper 

 Natal, in the neighbourhood of Newcastle and elsewhere. It 

 ranges into the Transvaal and Southern Bechiianaland. In 

 autumn and winter these Sparrows are frequently found in 

 considerable flocks, often consorting with other Finches and 

 Weaver-birds; even when nesting they frequently form social 

 communities and build many nests in the same bush or tree ; 

 occasionally I have seen a bush so packed with nests that they 

 formed a solid mass much like one of the collective nests of a 

 Social Weaver-bird. 



" The Cape Sparrow builds indiscriminately in holes of rocks 

 or buildings, or in holes of trees, but usually in the latter. 

 The nest, a domed structure, is more or less flask-shaped, 

 with an entrance from a few inches to more than a foot in 

 length, through a horizontally projecting neck. It is con- 

 structed of small sticks, straw, dry grass, occasionally interwoven 

 with rags and bits of paper, the cavity being warmly lined with 

 wool and feathers. Two or three broods are reared in the year, 

 the first eggs being laid in September. These are from three 

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

 colour ; they are usually of a pale greenish blue ground culuur, 



