174 Capt, Beavau 07i various Indian Birds. 



trace of yellow below, and the markings on the back also differ 

 slightly. 



708. Passer cinnamomeus. Cinnamon-headed Sparrow. 

 Very abundant at Simla. The dimensions of those killed 

 11th June are : — 



Irides brown ; bill black -, legs light brown, claws darker. 

 The females differ from the male in having no cinnamon colour 

 on the upper part, except a slight tinge of it on the shoulders 

 and upper tail-coverts. They have a well-defined light-yellow 

 supercilium, but a mere trace of black on the throat; and 

 the under parts are altogether less bright than in the male ; 

 the white wing-band also is less conspicuously marked. The 

 species feed on a kind of purple, oval, aloe-like berry grow- 

 ing abundantly on low thorny bushes on the hillside above 

 Annandale. 



710. Passer montanus. Mountain-Sparrow. 



Common in Burmah, where the natives take great care of 

 it. The outer husk of a cocoa-nut is cut in two and tied toge- 

 ther again, with a small aperture left on one side for the en- 

 trance of the bird. Several of these thus prepared are hung 

 under the eaves of the house, and sometimes inside the {quasi} 

 rooms, and the birds breed in them. The object appears to be 

 a purely religious one ; the Burmese think that by thus taking 

 care of these little birds they themselves in their next transmi- 

 gration will, under the form of Sparrows, receive kindness in the 

 same proportion that they now bestow it. This idea appears 

 also to hold good with regard to other domestic pets, and is, 

 doubtless, of Buddhist origin. 



711. Passer flavicollis. Yellow-necked Sparrow. 



Not uncommon in Maunbhoom, where it breeds early in 

 April, laying four eggs, much like those of the Common Spar- 

 row, but darker, and more spotted. The bill, legs, aud claws are 



