162 FBINGILLID^E PASSER 



these Sparrows are frequently found in considerable flocks, often 

 consorting with other Finches and Weaver-birds ; even when nesting 

 they frequently form social communities and build many nests in the 

 same bush or tree ; occasionally 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. Very little in the way of food comes 

 amiss with the Cape Sparrow ; various small seeds, grain, berries, 

 fruit, green peas, and buds of trees are all acceptable, as well as the 

 majority of insects, grubs, the larvae of various flies, caterpillars, 

 small beetles, locusts, grasshoppers and termites. In its natural 

 feral state this is a somewhat shy and unobtrusive bird, but 

 in Cape Town it has all the tameness and assurance of a London 

 Sparrow, the same ability to take care of itself, and the same 

 pugnacity and combativeness. Its note, also, a sort of " chissick," 

 is to my ear exactly similar to that of the English bird. The 

 Cape Sparrow builds indiscriminately in holes of rocks or build- 

 ings, or in bushes or trees, but usually in the latter. 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 horizontally projecting neck. It is constructed of small sticks, 

 straws, dry grass, occasionally interwoven with rags and bits of 

 paper, the cavity being warmly lined with wool and feathers. Two 

 or three broods are reared in the year, the first eggs being laid in 

 September. These are from three to six in number, and vary 

 considerably in size, shape and colour ; they are usually of a 

 pale greenish-blue ground colour, thickly blotched and mottled with 

 various shades of brown and lavender. They average 0*75 x 0'58. 

 They are hatched at the end of twelve days. The young remain in 

 the nest for about twenty-four days, during which time they are fed 

 on grubs, caterpillars, and partially digested food from the crops of 

 the old birds. 



85. Passer motitensis. Greater South African Sparrow. 



Passer motitensis, Smith, III. Zool., S. Afr., Birds, pi. 114 (1849) ; 

 Layard, B. S. Afr. p. 204 (1867) ; Gurney in Anders son 1 s B. 

 Damara Land p. 186 (1872) ; Sharp e, ed. Layard' s B. S. Afr. 

 p. 480 (1884) ; id. Cat. B. M. xii, p. 324 (1888) ; Shelley, B. Afr. 

 i, p. 20 (1896). 



Description. Adult male. Above, pale reddish brown streaked 

 with black on the mantle and scapulars; the upper tail-coverts 

 tinged with grey ; lesser wing-coverts like the back ; middle 



