PASSER DIFFUSUS. 253 



2-8 and 2-7, tarsus 0-7. 3 , 30. 7. 66. Otjimbinque (Andersson) ; J , 

 11. 4. 82. Orange E. (Bradshaw). 



The Common Grey-headed Sparrow ranges over Africa 

 generally, south of 17° N. lat. 



Mr. Hartert (Nov. Zool. 1900, pp. 44, 45), in an interesting 

 review of this species, tries to point out characters for separat- 

 ing P. swainsoni, P. gularis, P. occidentalis and P. vrjandse as 

 subspecies of P. diffusus. With an extremely fine series 

 before me, I cannot find any characters for recognising the 

 above as subspecies. In the British Museum alone there are 

 specimens from Senegal, Dakar, Gambia, Gold Coast, Abeo- 

 kuta, Niger, Gaboon, Malimba, Aruwhimi, Angola, Katumbella, 

 Damara-land, Orange river, Natal, Transvaal, Mosambique, 

 Zambesi, Nyasa-land, Dar-es-Salaam, Zanzibar, Pangani, Ndi, 

 Lamu, Somali-land and Abyssinia. 



The type of Pyrgifa gularis, Less., came from Senegambia. 

 Dr. Rendall records the species as very common at the Gambia 

 river, where he kept some as cage-birds and found them very 

 hardy, active and wild. It is strange that Mr. Biittikofer did 

 not collect any Sparrows in Liberia, for on my way out to the 

 Gold Coast with Mr. T. E. Buckley, during the few hours we 

 stopped at Sierra Leone, we saw this species, which appeared 

 to be as plentiful there as on the Gold Coast, where we found 

 it extremely common, and takes the place of our House 

 Sparrow and is equally bold, and prefers the towns to the 

 surrounding bush-oountry. At Accra, Dr. Reichenow found 

 a nest of these Sparrows begun on August lOtb, had five eggs 

 in it on the 25th, and fine young birds by tlie end of September. 

 The eggs were brownish white, strongly freckled with pale 

 dusky chestnut brown, and measured 075 x 0"6. 



Captain Boyd Alexander found these Sparrows common 

 from Gomieri down to Accra, but absent further inland. 



The type of P. difusus thierryi, Reichen. was procured by 



