232 NOTES. 



species to the Indian list, is not, I am now disposed to think, 

 pallida, but rather abnormal rama. 



Comparing rama and pallida, the two birds are very close, 

 the differences appear to consist mainly in — 



1st. — The somewhat superior size of pallida, the wing in 

 which almost always exceeds 2*5, and runs to 2*65, while in 

 rama the wing varies from 2*3 and rarely exceeds 2*45. This, 

 however, is by no means a sufficient diagnosis as occasionally 

 a rama has a wing of 2'5, and pallida (eliaca) a wing of less 

 than this — still this is an indication. 



2nd. — Pallida has a smaller first primary and a longer 

 step between the tip of this and the tip of the second primary 

 than in rama. In rama this step is generally less than one 

 inch ; in pallida it is generally over 1*1. 



3rd. — A slight difference in the wing formula, the second 

 primary in pallida being apparently either equal to, or a little 

 longer or shorter than the 6th primary, while in rama it is 

 equal to, or a little longer or shorter than the 8th primary. 



As regards all other points — colour, bill, &c. — there is really 

 no appreciable difference ; and according to Mr. Blanford, 

 throughout Persia and Beluchistan, intermediate forms occur 

 which he considers hybrids. I don't believe in the - hybrid 

 theory, and I have grave doubts in my own mind as to whether 

 pallida ought to be specificably separated. However, most 

 ornithologists are agreed so to separate it. 



The re-discovert by Mr. Scrope B. Doig, C.E., on the 

 Eastern Narra, Sindh, of Passer pyrrhonotus, Blyth, which has 

 so long been considered a doubtful bird, is a most noteworthy 

 event, and not amongst the least important results of that 

 gentleman's earnest and intelligent labours in the cause of 

 ornithology. 



Blyth's and Jerdon's descriptions are, to a certain extent, 

 correct, and the bird is distinguishable at once from Passer 

 domesticus by its very much smaller bill, which closely resem- 

 bles that of Passer cinnamomeus, and by its tiny legs and feet. 

 The only fault I have to find with the description is, that 

 Blyth says of the male, " rump feathers dull maroon/' while 

 Jerdon says, " a chestnut stripe from the eye to the nape, the 

 rest of the plumage maroon," whereas in the specimen sent 

 to me there is no maroon at all, the rufous being every- 

 where chestnut, unicolorous with the stripe behind the ear. 

 Except for the very small bill, legs, and feet, the bird is quite 

 of the type of the common Sparrow, but it is everywhere very 

 much smaller, and the following are the more conspicuous 

 differences in the plumage. The grey of the crown is duller 

 and more ashy ; the red patch behind the eye, the mantle, and 



