256 Dr. R. Bowdler Sharpe on Birds 



sides of face dusky brown, with a patch of white below the 

 ear-coverts ; the chin dusky grey ; the cheeks and throat 

 mottled with white ; lower throat, fore neck, and chest dusky 

 brown, becoming more ashy on the latter ; lower breast and 

 abdomen pale ochreous buff, becoming whiter on the under 

 tail-coverts ; sides of body dusky brown and streaked with 

 brown; thighs dusky brown; axillaries and under wing- 

 coverts ochreous olive, as well as the margin of the wing. 



Another male is rather browner than the one described 

 and may be a younger bird. The bands on the wing are 

 ochreous buff, and the olive on the quills has a brownish tinge. 

 Underneath the colour is rather more rufescent and the 

 dusky streaks on the flanks are less pronounced. 



52. Passer ruficinctus. 



Passer ruficinctus, Fischer & Reichenow, J. f. O. 1884, 



p. 55 ; Fischer, Zeitschr. ges. Orn. i. p. 319 (Naivasha) ; 



Reichen. J. f. O. 1887, p. 72 (Loeru, Masai Land) ; Sharpe, 



Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xii. p. 325. 



No. 55. (^. Kikuyu, Sept. 14, 1889. — Irides brownish 

 white; legs dull dusky brown. 



Nos. 56 & 57. ? . Kikuyu, Sept. 14, 1889. 



N OS. 68 & 69. c? ? • Masai Land, July 26, 1890.— Legs 

 pale brown ; bill dusky horn ; irides creamy yellow. 

 Very plentiful in the vicinity of kraals. At present 

 breeding. Builds nest like that of our Common Sparrow, 

 large and very rough, of dry grass, lined with feathers ; 

 nest placed in any small tree or bush. 

 This is evidently the true Passer ruficinctus of Beichenow, 



and the bird so named by Captain Shelley from Lado (P. Z. S. 



1888, p. 36) is distinct. It is a smaller and paler bird, with 



white cheeks like P. motitensis, but differing both from that 



species and from P. ruficinctus in having a black patch \ 



behind the ear- coverts. It may thus be diagnosed : — 



Passer shelleyi, sp. n. 

 P. similis P. motitensi, sed valde minor, et plaga postauriculari 

 nigra facile distinguendus. Long. tot. 5'3, culm. 0'5, 

 alse 2*75, caudse 1*8, tarsi 0'65. 

 Hab. Lado {Emm Pasha). 



II 



