294 THE BIRDS OF MONGOLIA ETC. 



We met with P. ruficoUis, simultaneously with Onychospiza taczanowsUi^ 

 at the sources of the river Tetung and in the Koko-nor basin, whence 

 it visits Northern Tibet, avoiding, however, the marshy plains of Tsaidam. 

 Like the two preceding species, it inhabits the empty holes of Lagomys 

 ogotono, which cover the Koko-nor steppes in great numbers, especially in 

 the locahties where the Mongols and Tanguts* have been stopping for some 

 time. These birds live very peacefully in company with the above-mentioned 

 animals, and form in winter large flocks of several hundreds ; but in spring 

 they separate in pairs, and breed in the above-mentioned holes in the 

 ground. No nests were found by us in March. 



The northern limit for the distribution of this species is formed by the 

 Koko-nor basin and the river Tetung. 



150. Passer montanus, L. Voroley polevoy. 



Is a scarce inhabitant of Gobi, but is rather common in S.E. MongoHa, 

 Ordos, and Kan-su, near the Chinese habitations, and at Koko-nor and in 

 Tsaidam about the villages. In Ala-shan it inhabits the deserts, usually near 

 wells and Mongohan huts, but* does not occur in Northern Tibet. It breeds 

 on rocks, in holes on the ground, or in houses and .fences left by the 

 Mongolian nomads. 



P. montanus is extremely common in Ussuri country and on the coast of 

 the Japanese Sea, but also there only in the neighbourhood of the habitation 

 of man. Sometimes they stop for a year or two in the villages left by the 

 Chinese, but after that period always leave these spots, in order to get to 



■^ [''Tangut {TangMt) is a name very conspicuous in the Mongol era. The word 

 ('TanggodO is properly a Mongol plural, designating certain tribes of Thibetan blood, called 

 by the Chinese ' Tanghiang/ who established their kingdom on the N. W. frontier of China . . . (end 

 of 10th century). The name is no longer used in China; the Mongols now apply it to Tibet. In 

 this sense it is often used by Pallas &c.'' For fuller information cf. Col. Henry Yules, ' Marco 

 Polo/ vol. i. p. 186. — Editor oe^O. M.] 



