BIRDS IROM NORTHERN AND WESTERN PERSIA. 855 



Carpospiza brachydactyla , Bp. — Desert Rock Sparrow. 



The Desert Rock Sparrow was noticed by Cheesman at Taq-i-Girreh, " evi- 

 dently breeding " on 24th May. 



Passer domesticus domesticus (L). — House Sparrow. 

 2(^, 1 2, Enzeli. March. 



Passer domesticus biblicus, Hartert. 

 7 $ , Qazvin — January. 

 1 2 , Qazvin — January. 



The House Sparrow of the South Coast of the Caspian except perhaps the 

 Eastern end, belongs to the typical race. Apart from the above 2^, 1 $ , I have 

 examined 4 (5* , 1 $ in the British Museum collected by St. John and by Woos- 

 nam. Wing of males measure 74-77 mm. and all are grey cheeked with the 

 exception of one (S collected by Woosnam on the " S. Coast of the Caspian Sea." 

 As Woosnam traversed the coastal country as far east as Bandar-i-Gaz in Astera- 

 bad Bay, this single white cheeked specimen (wing 75), may have come from the 

 extreme S. E. Caspian. Hartert (p. 148) suggests that in Transcaspia we may 

 find intermediate stages between P. d. domesticus and P. d. indicus. It will be 

 seen that I disagree with Witherby (1910) who records Woosnam's specimens 

 as P. d. indicus. Zarudny (1913) has already recorded P. d. domesticus &nd 

 intergrades between it and P. d. indicus from Gilan and Mazandaran. 



The House Sparrows collected at Qazvin from flocks frequenting stables in 

 midwinter are larger than those from Gilan. The whole upper surface is much 

 more unicolorous than that of either P. d. indicus or P. d. domesticus at the same 

 time of year. In this respect they agree with winter skins from Palestine, and 

 as their wings measure 79-83 mm. (average 80-25 seven males) I record them 

 without hesitation as Passer domesticus biblicus, Hartert, a bird at present only 

 known from Syria and Palestine. Zarudny records P. d. indicus as the prevalent 

 sparrow in N. W. Persia exclusive of the Caspian litoral. His paper was 

 published before Hartert described P. d. biblicus but he should have avoided 

 this error as the sparrow of this region is grey-cheeked and large P. d. indicus 

 is small and nearly alwaj-s white cheeked. House sparrows are common but 

 not abundant in the towns of North Persia. I never saw any sign of their inter- 

 breeding with the Spanish Sparrows near Enzeh. I have already recorded (1920) 

 that hen House Sparrows were feedin g their young near Enzeli on the very 

 prevalent larvae of the painted Lady Butterfly {Vanessa cardui) ; one might 

 have supposed that so spiny a larva would be distasteful, but they appeared 

 to choose it in preference to other abundant insects. 



Passer hispaniolensis transcaspicus, Tschusi. — Spanish Sparrow. 



1 $ Enzeli — March. 



The Spanish Sparrow was resident at Enzeli, but only in very small numbers: 

 it frequented isolated fisherman's huts along the sea shore. 



Passer montanus transcaucasicus , Buturlin. — Tree Sparrow. 



2 $ , Resht — February. 

 1 ^ , Enzeli — June. 



1^, Enzeli.— June (R.E.C.). 

 This race of the Tree Sparrow was described by Buturlin (1906) from Akhal- 

 zikh. Zarudny and Harms (1913) state that the Tree Sparrow found all along 

 the S. shore of the Caspian from Lenkoran to Bandar-i-Gaz belongs to this race. 

 I have compared the above three specimens, also three collected by Woosnam 

 on the S. coast of the Caspian, and one from the Tortum river between Eizerum 

 and the Black Sea with a large series of the typical race. I find that they cer- 

 tainly are paler on the back when seen in series, but that the difference is very 

 slight and that there is some overlapping. I can detect no difference between 

 the two sub-species in size of bill, but the wings of these specimens are short 



