242 ]Mr. W. L. Sclatcr on Birds collected 



Nortli-Easteru Transvaal and the Inliambane, Beira, Goron- 

 goza, and Tete districts of Portuguese East Africa. 



I consider it a misnomer to call this a Rock-Sparrow, as 

 its habits exactly resemble those of the other members of the 

 Sparrow tribe, and all that I have seen have been solitary or in 

 pairs frequenting more or less timbered country and feeding 

 on grain, seeds, the green shoots of trees and shrubs, &c., 

 while often visiting native lands for this purpose. The call 

 is very similar to that of P, nielanurus, and only after long- 

 acquaintance with the species can a diflcrence be detected. 



The soft parts are : — Irides hazel ; bill, upper mandible 

 dark horn-brown, lower much paler; legs and toes slate- 

 coloured.] 



84. Passer melanurus. 



CC. Durban Rd., Mch., Sept. (5); Tv. Wakkerstroom, 

 Apl. (2). 



84 a. Passer melanurus damarensis. 



CC. Klipfontein, Apl., May, July (10) ; Port Nolloth, 

 Aug. (2). 



The Damaraland Sparrow is separated by Reichenow from 

 the Cape form by the " purer black of the crown, wlule in 

 the typical form the black is clearly intermixed with brown.'' 

 I find in the Klipfontein males that the head is darkest in 

 April, while later the feathers become worn and bleached, 

 and the July birds are much paler on tjie head and back than 

 those of April. I atn unable to distinguish these from 

 Damaraland birds in the British Museum or from Cape and 

 Transvaal birds. The Namaqualand females, however, are 

 distinctly paler and may perhaps justify the retaining of 

 this subspecies. Grant has come to very similar conclusions. 

 [This Sparrow seems very variable in the colour of the 

 upper surface at the same time of year, especially among the 

 females ; this is probably due to age, the darker birds being 

 fully adult. 



There are two moulting females killed in March and 

 April which are assuming a dark head and mantle, so that 

 the conclusion come to by Dr. Sharpe in ' The Ibis ' for 1904 



