FRINGILLID^ PASSER 163 



coverts blackish tipped with white, the greater blackish edged 

 and tipped with buff; quills blackish edged with rufous; tail- 

 feathers dark brown edged with paler brown ; crown and back 

 of neck grey ; a broad eyebrow reddish-buff ; in front of this a 

 white spot ; a black streak from the lores under the eye and above 

 the ear-coverts ; ear-coverts grey ; cheeks white, extending along 

 the sides of neck ; throat and upper chest black ; rest of under 

 surface white, tinged with brown on the sides and flanks ; axillaries 

 reddish-yellow ; under wing- coverts white, their bases dusky ; 

 quills below dusky, their inner margins grey. 



Iris dark brown ; bill brown ; legs and feet pale brown. 



Length 6-25; wing 3-25 ; tail 2-35 ; tarsus 0'85 ; culmen 0-60. 



Adult female. Above, fulvous-brown streaked with black ; 

 crown and back of neck brown ; throat blackish ; breast and sides 

 pale brown ; abdomen and under tail-coverts white. 



Length 6-20 ; wing 3'25 ; tail 2'25. 



Distribution. From the Orange Eiver to Lake N 'garni and 

 North Damara Land ; through the Northern Transvaal and Matabili 

 and Mashonaland to the Zambesi Eiver. 



Habits. Andersson gives the following note in the " Birds of 

 Damara Land," p. 186 : "I first met with its nest at Omapju, on 

 January 5, 1867 ; it was placed on the top of a thorn bush, about 

 seven feet from the ground ; and I subsequently met with several 

 other nests during the same month. The nest is large, and is 

 composed of coarse grass outside and fine grass within, and has 

 an additional lining- of feathers and other soft and warm materials ; 

 it is furnished with a long entrance, sometimes a foot or more in 

 length, which ends in a deep and wide hollow. The eggs are from 

 three to six ; but the most frequent number is four ; they are larger 

 than the eggs of P. arcuatus, and are invariably covered with a 

 glutinous matter which it is difficult to remove, even with the help 

 of water." 



86. Passer diffusus. Southern Grey-headed Sparrow. 



Pyrgita diffusa, Smith, Rep. Exp. Centr. Afr. (1836), App. p. 50. 

 Passer diffusus, Gray, Gen. B. ii, p. 373 (1849) ; Layard, B. S. Afr. p. 



204 (1867) ; Gurney in Andersson's B. Damara Land, p. 187 (1872) ; 



Sharpe, ed. Layard's B. S. Afr. pp. 480, 850 (1884) ; id. Cat. B. M. 



xii, p. 336 (1888) ; Shelley, B. Afr. i, p. 20 (1896). 

 Passer simplex, Layard, B. S. Afr. p. 205 (1867). 



Description. Adult male. Above, dark reddish-brown ; lesser 

 and middle wing-coverts like the back, the inner middle coverts 



