208 



GREY-HEADED SPARROW. 



Pyrgita simplex, SWAINS. 



Head and neck grey; plumage above rufous , beneath whitish; 

 wings and tail brown. 



THE only true Sparrow we have yet received from 

 Senegal has been found by Dr. Riippell in Abys- 

 sinia, and is that which he informs us has been 

 described by Professor Lichtenstein under the name 

 of Fringilla simplex; he also informs us that the 

 two sexes are always alike, but for this assurance 

 we were certainly disposed to consider our bird as 

 the female of the crescent sparrow, Pyrgita arcuata, 

 figured on the PL Enl 230. 



There is not the slightest difference, in point of 

 structure, between this species and our own do- 

 mestic sparrow ; even their size are as nearly equal 

 as possible. In both species the tail, as in all the 

 true finches (Fringillince), is moderately long and 

 divaricated ; the four first quills equal and longest ; 

 the lateral toes of the same length, and the tarsi 

 elevated. 



The colours are very simple ; the head and neck 

 are uniform light grey, becoming cream-coloured 

 white on the throat and breast, but there is a stripe 

 under the chin as pure as the white of the body. 



