240 



779. Passer montanus. The Tree-Sparrow. 



Fringilla montana, Linn. Si/st. Nat. i, p. 324 (1766). 



Passer montanus (Linn.), Blyth, Cat. p. 120; Horsf. fy M. Cat. ii, 



p. 500 ; Jerd. B. 1. ii, p. 366 ; Hume, N. $ E. p. 460 ; Ander*. 



Yunnan Exped., Aces, p. 601 ; Hume, Cat. no. 710; Oates. B. B. i, 



p. 348 ; Sharpe, Cat. B. M. xii, p. 301 ; Oates in Humes' N. 8f E. 



2nd ed. ii, p. 162. 

 The Mountain Sparrow, Jerd. 



Coloration. Male and female. The whole head from forehead to 

 nape vinous chestnut; lores, feathers under the eye, and a patch 

 under the ear-coverts and encroaching upon them black ; with this 

 exception the sides of the face and neck are white ; chin and 

 throat black ; lower plumage ashy, whitish on the abdomen and 

 tinged with fulvous on the sides of the breast, flanks, and under 

 tail-coverts ; back and scapulars pale chestnut, with the inner webs 

 of the feathers chiefly black ; rump and upper tail-coverts yellowish 

 brown ; tail brown, edged with fulvous ; lesser wing-coverts chest- 

 nut; median coverts black, broadly tipped with while; greater 

 coverts blackish, edged with pale chestnut and tipped with whitish ; 

 quills dark brown edged with rufous. 



Bill black ; iris brown ; legs flesh-colour ; claws brown. 



Length 5'6 ; tail 2'3 ; wing 2*7 ; tarsus '1 ; bill from gape *55. 



This species throughout its vast range remains very constant in 

 coloration. A slight exception occurs, however, in birds from 

 Tarkaud and Central Asia, where the lower plumage of this 

 Sparrow becomes white. 



Distribution. The whole of the Himalayas from Afghanistan to 

 Assam up to 7000 feet in summer, descending to lower levels in 

 winter; the whole of the countries from Assam southwards to the 

 extreme southern point of Tenasserim. In the British Museum 

 there is a skin of this Sparrow said to have been procured in the 

 Deccan by Sykes, but probably erroneously, as Horsfield and 

 Moore do not record the specimen in their Catalogue and the 

 locality is quite outside the range of this bird. 



The Tree-Sparrow has a wide range over Europe, Africa, and 

 Asia, extending south to Java. 



Habits, fyc. The Tree-Sparrow nests in the east chiefly in holes 

 about houses and other buildings, but in Europe it nests generally 

 in trees. The nest is constructed of all sorts of materials and is a 

 shapeless mass, suited roughly to the cavity it occupies. The eggs 

 resemble those of the House-Sparrow and measure about -73 by 

 54. The nest may be found at most times of the year, but more 

 commonly from February to May. 



780. Passer cinnamomeus. The Cinnamon Tree-Sparrow. 



Pyrgita cinnamomea, Gould, P. Z. S. 1835, p. 185. 



Passer cinnamomeus (Gould), Blyth, Cat. p. 119; Horsf. fy M. Cat., 



