204 Rev. H. B. Tristram on the Ornithology of Palestine. 



XVII. — On the Ornithology of Palestine. Part VII. 

 By the Rev. H. B. Tristram, M.A., F.L.S., C.M.Z.S. 



(Plates VI. & VII.) 



[Continued from ' The Ibis ' for 18G7, p. 371.] 



Few of the Finch-tribe have a wider lateral range than the 

 Rock-SparroWj Petronia stulta (Gm.), extending, as it does, 

 from Madeira to AfFghanistan. It is stated by Brehm to be a 

 permanent resident in warmer climates ; this, however, is not 

 the case in Palestine, where it is never found in winter. It 

 reappears in the early spring (the first specimen we obtained 

 being on March 28), and immediately begins to select its nest- 

 holes, hatching its young about the first week in May. It is 

 very widely distributed, but only in the open rocky country. 

 I never observed it either on the coast-plains, or in the Jordan 

 valley, while along the central ridge of western Palestine it 

 was very common, generally in small parties of six or seven. 

 It is an unobtrusive and unattractive bird, wanting the liveliness 

 of the House-Sparrow, and eluding observation by quietly 

 hopping behind the stones and rocks, among which it loves to 

 dwell. Its gracefully mottled plumage is admirably adapted 

 for concealment, the very pale brown and dingy white har- 

 monizing perfectly with the chalky rocks, while it seldom utters 

 its chirp unless when suddenly alarmed. We often watched a 

 party of these birds quietly hopping in loose order among the 

 barren stony ridges, picking up hard seeds and beetles in 

 silence, and carefully avoiding any piece of turf or vegetation 

 which might render them conspicuous. The chirp is very like 

 that of the House-Sparrow {Passer domesticus), but louder and 

 more plaintive. The Rock- Sparrow, so far as my own observa- 

 tion goes, always breeds down the sides of old wells, in company 

 with the Little Owl {Athene persica). There were always two 

 or three nests in the same well ; and in the old dry wells near 

 Bethany, and at St. Helena^s Well, on the road to Jericho, we took 

 forty-five eggs in two days. All the nests we subsequently 

 found were hatched. The complement of eggs was five or 

 six. They are very like the dark varieties of those of the 



