59 | Vol. xl. 
Major R. EH, Curesman exhibited the nest and eggs of 
Passer moabiticus mesopotamicus [Passer mesopotamicus 
Zaruduy, 1904, Ornith. Jahrbuch, xv. p. 108], and madesthe 
following remarks :— 
P. m. mesopotamicus was described by Zarudny as being 
intermediate between Passer moabiticus (Tristram), confined 
to the Dead Sea, and Passer yatei (Sharpe), Seistan. 
On May 1, 1919, this colony of P. mesopotamicus was 
nesting in thick scrub-jungle near Baghdad. The jungle 
was several miles in extent on the banks of the Tigris, and 
up tothe present is the only nesting-site known in Meso- 
potamia. The nests were always built in the stout stems of 
the Euphrates poplar or trees of dwarf tamarisk 5 ft. to 8 ft. 
from the ground. There were perhaps 100 nests scattered 
over 6 miles. Generally the nests were 200 yards apart. 
The main structure is of sticks and resembles a small 
Magpie’s nest. The one exhibited is the smallest I could 
find for convenience of packing. The large size of sticks 
selected is remarkable when the smallness of the bird is con- 
sidered. The eggs are placed ona thick pad of down from 
rushes and thistles, a few fibres, and small feathers. The 
roof is covered in, and the entrance is one small hole which 
winds down out of sight from the top in a spiral. 
One nest contained one half-fledged young and one egg, 
another five eggs, two fresh and two near hatching, another 
six eggs, all fresh, another three eggs, all fresh. One nest, 
an old one, was being renovated by a pair of birds. The 
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. 
The birds migrate in winter a few hundred miles to the 
lower reaches of the Tigris and feed among the flocks of the 
larger Sparrows. 
This is the first nest and eggs of Passer m. mesopotamicus 
that has been seen or recorded. 
