168 Lieut. R. E. Vauglian and Staff-Surg. K. H. Jones 



Passer montanus. 



As is very well known, Tree- Sparrows in China take the 

 place of Passer domesticus in western Europe, and have 

 become noisy, bold, and eminently parasitic on man, in 

 precisely the same way as the latter. 



The Tree-Sparrow is, if anything, rather bolder and more 

 impudent than the European House-Sparrow, for not only is 

 it exceedingly fond of the outsides of houses at Ilong Kong 

 but frequently comes inside as well, through the wide open 

 windows. 



In the early autumn great flocks of these birds, in company 

 with a few Russet Sparrows and Buntings, are seen in the 

 paddy-fieUls, where they proceed to gorge themselves with 

 ripe grain. In the middle of March they repair to their 

 nesting-sites, which are nearly always about houses, under 

 the eaves of temples, or in the mud walls of tlie cottages, in 

 which last situation they peck out a hole for themselves in 

 the friable material. 



Kwei Hsien in Kwang Si is the only place where these 

 birds Avere seen to be nesting in trees, and there they did 

 not nest in holes in the trees, as is usual in the Mcst, 

 but built, as do the House-Sparrows under similar circum- 

 stances in Europe, a large untidy nest of straw and grass. 

 Eggs may be found at the end of March, and five is the 

 usual number in a first clutch, but as many as seven were 

 noticed. 



At least three broods are got off in the summer, and fresh 

 eggs have been taken up to August 1st. These later clutches 

 do not contain more than three eggs. 



Passer rutilans. 



The Russet Sparrow is a fairly common bird of passage in 

 the month of April, when considerable flocks pass through 

 on their way to the north. 



The flocks do not, as a rule, mix with those of Passer 

 montanus, but keep strictly to themselves, neither do they 

 settle on houses and seek human neighbourhood, but rest on 

 trees in the fields and open country. The note of this bird 



