100 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



both laid many eggs, clearly proves that both were adult, 

 and therefore presumably at least distinct sub-species. 

 The egg of P. alligularis is (indistinguishable from 

 that of P. dentata. 



SOXTTHEEN ROCK-SPARROW (Petronia petronclla). 



Above brown ; the crown darker ; mantle mottled with 

 blackish ; wings dark brown, the feathers with paler 

 borders, median and greater coverts with whitish tips, 

 forming two wing-bands ; borders of flights rufescent ; 

 tail-feathers dark brown with ill-defined whitish edges ; 

 below pale brown ; a broad whitish eyebrow-stripe ; 

 space between the latter and ear-coverts dark brown ; 

 chin, upper throat, centre of breast, and under tail- 

 coverts white; a yellow patch at back of throat; flights 

 below brown with pale inner edges ; imder wing-coverts 

 pale brown, partly mottled with white; beak dusky 

 horn-brown, with pale lower mandible ; leet brownish 

 ash ; irides brown. Female smaller and with smaller 

 yellow throat-spot. Habitat, Africa, to the south of 

 about 3 deg. S. lat. (Shelley.) 



In Stark and Sclater's " Birds of South Africa," 

 Vol. I., p. 158, we read : " Although this Sparrow may 

 be sometimes seen hopping about rocks, tit is more fre- 

 quently to be met with among trees, and especially 

 euphorbias, from the bark of which it appears to glean a 

 considerable amount of food in the shape of small beetles 

 and other insects. Mr. T. Ayres writes regarding its 

 habits in Mashonaland : ' These Sparrows are not un- 

 common about the Umvuli, frequenting the high trees 

 and feeding much as the Tomtits do, hanging about the 

 outer twigs and eating the young buds, etc. ; as, how- 

 ever, food of all kinds is scarce for birds, this may not 

 be a usual habit. They are now mostly in pairs, and 

 their loud Sparrow-like cries, often repeated in the early 

 morning, attract one's attention to them.' 



" This species appears to feed very largely on insects, 

 which it finds in crevices of rocks and in the bark of 

 trees. It also eats small seeds of grass and various 

 weeds. It builds a large Sparrow-like nest of dry grass 

 and feathers in the hole of a tree or rock, and lays three 

 or four eggs, which resemble those of the Cape Sparrow, 

 but they are slightly larger, as a rule, and more 

 sparingly but distinctly spotted with dark slaty-brown." 

 '" On the other hand, Captain Shelley says : " Mr. Ivy, 

 a resident at Grahamstown, writes : ' I have found many 

 nests of this species in the decayed centres of the 

 branches of the euphorbia trees. The bird makes a 

 small opening in the bark, and on a deposit of a few 

 feathers and down in the hollow of the branch, lays 

 from three to four dull brown unspotted eggs. It breeds 

 in companies, and the eggs are difficult to obtain, as the 

 branches of the euphorbias are high up above ( the 

 ground, and though heavy are brittle and rotten.' He 

 further remarks that the 'eggs are very unlike those of 

 Pa.o.^r arcuafufi." "Birds of Africa." Vol. III., pp. 

 266. 267. 



Captain Shelley has resurrected the name ttawgula 

 for this ?pecies on the ground that Bonaparte quoted 

 Sundival's name while giving it a different one. This 

 is not always a concluFiive proof of priority, for I have 

 had proof-sheets of a book forwarded to me when I was 

 bringing out a work (to enable me to quote from them), 

 and I rather think my book was published first. 

 Although this species has been represented several times 

 at the London Zoological Gardens, Dr. Russ omits it 

 from his large work. 



CAPE SPARROW (Passer arcvatus). 



Above deep bright cinnamon ; the nape and mantle 



greyish ; upper tail-coverts brown ; lesser wing-coverts 



cinnamon ; middle and greater coverts black, tipped 



with white, the latter with brown edges; tail black. 



with reddish margins to the feathers ; head black ; a 

 broad eyebrow stripe, sides of neck and back of cheeks 

 white ; throat and front of breast black, remainder of 

 under surface white, greyish at the sides and on the 

 thighs ; flights below dusky with the tinner margins 

 greyish fulvous ; beak black ; feet brown ; irides brown. 

 Female smaller and duller than male, browner above, 

 the crown being duller black, the mantle and upper back 

 brown ; a pale fouff streak bordering the back of crown 

 and a huffish patch behind the cheeks; sides of head, 

 throat, and front of breast dusky brown ; remainder of 

 under parts; pale buff. Habitat, " South Africa, east- 

 wards to the Transvaal, and westwards to Benguela." 

 (Sharpe.) 



Layard ("Birds of South Africa," p. 479 of Sharpe's 

 edition) says : " The ' Mossie,' .like its cousin, the 

 English bird, is essentially a ' cit.' In the country you 

 certainly find him, but never away from human habita- 

 tions. He seems to think man only builds houses for 

 him to dwell in ; only grows corn for him to eat ; only 

 plants trees for him to roost in. The airs he gives him- 

 self are amusing, and you feel inclined to forgive his 

 peculations out of sheer admiration for the boldness 

 with which he executes the theft. With the earliest 

 dawn he is up and doing, and his chirrup arouses you 

 from your slumbers; but, as he has not got to dress, and 

 you have, he is off to visit your farm produce before you 

 are. As he has wings, he visits all your property (not 

 to count your neighbours'), and levies toll where he 

 likes ; and you find him in the evening, when you reach 

 home, tired and footsore, there before you, and with 

 unabated vigour fighting for the snuggest and warmest 

 berth under the eaves, or the cosiest branch upon your 

 pet oak-tree. Well, don't -be hard on him. He will in 

 his season rid you of thousands of caterpillars and 

 grubs ; and if your " eldest hope " is old enough to begin 

 to shoot, he will do no great harm in thinning their 

 numbers in the autumn, and manufacturing puddings 

 for his brothers and sisters with the bodies of the slain. 

 Sparrows build in holes in walls, or in trees, indis- 

 criminately. If they select the former, they accumulate 

 a lot of sticks as a groundwork, and fill up with straw 

 and feathers. Their eggs, three to five in number, are 

 light verditer with 'brown blotches, but they vary much 

 in shape and colour." 



Messrs. Stark and Sclater ("Birds of South Africa," 

 Vol. I., pp. 161-162) say : " This Sparrow is still to be 

 found living a perfectly wild life, at a great distance 

 from human habitations, in many parts of Little Nama- 

 qualand and the great Karroo desert. Here it affects 

 the neighbourhood of mimosa trees, and appears to 

 flourish in the most dreary and waterless districts, feed- 

 ing on small seeds and insects and building its nest in 

 some thorny bush or tree. It seems probable that, this- 

 Sparrow was originally a desert bird, and has compara- 

 tively recently changed its habits in certain districts 

 and adapted itself to' a town or village life. In autumn 

 and winter these Sparrows are frequently found in con- 

 siderable flocks, often consorting with other Finches ami 

 Weaver-birds. Even when nesting they frequently form 

 social communities and build many nests in the 

 bush or tree; occasiona'ly 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 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 horizontal projecting 

 neck. It is constructed of small sticks, straw*. <lry 

 grass occasionally interwoven with rags and bits of 

 paper, the cavity being warmly lined with wool and 

 feathers. Two or three broods are raised in the year, 

 the first eggs being laid in September. These are from 



