‘232 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXVIII. 
clutches are usually composed of a majority of dark eggs, with one or two 
totally different, being white with a few brown spots or blotches.” 
Zarudny, who first discovered this Sparrow in Mesopotamia, found it in great 
numbers in the lower reaches of the Karun between Ahwaz and Nasrie at the 
end of January and beginning of February in jungle of Tamarisk, Lyciwm and 
Poplar. Here he found old nests. He also met with it at Shellgati on the Gagar 
R. in thick fruit gardens and at Kulichan on March 24th found it breeding in 
Tamarisk. From specimens he obtained on this expedition he separated this 
‘Sparrow as mesopotamicus, being intermediate in colour between moabiticus from 
the Dead Sea and the very distinct Seistan form yatii and he says it is larger than 
moabiticus. 
He gives the measurements of mesopotamicus— 
3, wing 62-66°3, tail 52°3,—56.5 m m. 
Q , 59°3-63°5 ,, 49°3—53°6 mm. 
Of typical moabiticus he only had two specimens for comparison ! 
I have examined the following skins from Mesopotamia :— 
dg, nr. Baghdad, 30-4-19, W. 64:5, T. 59°5, B. 10 (P. Z. C. and R. E.C.). 
3, Amara, 16-12-17, W. 66°5, T. 50°5, B. 10-5 (P.A.B.) 
do, Amara, 9-12-17, W. 63, T. 48:5, B. 9°75 (P. A. B.). 
9, Amara, 16-12-17, W. 62:5, T. 51, B. 10 (P. A. B.). 
Q, nr. Baghdad, 30-4-19, W. 62:5, T. 49°5 B. 10(P. Z.C. and R. E. C. 
“Of typical moabiticus from the Dead Sea I have examined 11 malesand 9 females. 
These males measure W. 61—64°5 m.m., T. 47°5—62 m.m. and the females W. 
59-62, T. 47°5-51. Between the Mesopotamian and Dead Sea birds I cannot 
see the slightest difference in colour and, as above, there is practically no differ- 
ence in size. I can only regard mesopotamicus, Zar., as a synonym of moabiticus, 
‘Trist. 
22. Spanish Sparrow. Passer hispaniolensis. 
Passer hispaniolensis transcaspicus, Tschusi (Orn. Jahrb., 1903, p. 10,— 
Jelotan in Transcaspia), 
A winter visitor in great numbers, widely but rather patchily distributed. 
‘There are no records of it before December 7th when Buxton noted that many 
arrived at Amara and spent the winter. They became commoner still in 
February and then gradually disappeared, the last: being seen in the first week 
in April. He noted that they did not consort with House Sparrows and used 
to roost all the winter in dense Peplar scrub and Lyciwm bushes in the desert, 
even a couple of miles from the river. Pitman found it common in the Kut 
area in February and says it may have been there earlier, and he noted it 
wherever suitable scrub existed between Kut and Baghdad; he met with it 
again at Feluja on April 17th during the spring migration of Wagtails, etc., 
while Cheesman saw large and frequent flocks on April 18th at Fatah Gorge 
passing up the line of the Jebel Hamrin together with Wagtails, Ortolans and 
Carpospiza in a very large migration rush. Cumming noted it at Fao with 
House Sparrows during the winter and early spring. 
Zarudny in 1911 includes it in his Karun list as common in winter and nesting 
in small numbers. Writing in 1913 on the Sparrows of Persia (J. F. O., 1913) he 
says it is common at Wais, Mohommera and Karun River, also at Ahwaz and 
Shustar, from January to March and adds there is no evidence of iis breeding! 
He further remarks that birds corresponding to palestine, Tschusi, are to be found » 
in Persia, Transcaspia, Bokhara and Turkestan. I do not know this latter race 
but some transcaspicus are quite difficult enough to tell from typical hispamio- 
densis including some Palestine and Mesopotamian specimens and single birds 
might equally well be of the latter form ; on the whole however I refer them to 
transcaspicus. 
