610 
4 
species is tolerably common, especially in the mountain-valleys, the monotony of these localities 
being broken only by the chattering call-note of the Rock-Sparrow. It usually breeds in steep 
earth-banks, and occasionally also in rocks. In the former places the nest is placed in a hole, 
usually so near the face of the bank that the eggs or young are visible. The young, from four 
to six in number, are hatched late in May. In winter the present species collects in large flocks, 
often numbering several hundred examples; and such flocks were repeatedly seen by us in 
Muni-ul flying to their drinking-places. In Kan-su it is exceedingly common; at Koko-nor it is 
not so frequently observed, and is only of occasional occurrence in Northern Thibet. At Halka 
it is also numerous, especially on the low mountain-range in the Gobi desert.” 
In habits the present species much resembles the common House-Sparrow ; but it is scarcely 
so bold as that bird; nor does it affect the vicinity of human habitations, being more frequently 
found away from the villages and farm-yards, in rocky places, and seldom on the cultivated 
plains. It feeds on cereals of various sorts, seeds of wild plants, grasses, &c. during the autumn 
and winter, and is not unfrequently seen on the roads searching amongst the horse-droppings for 
the undigested grains; and it also feeds on berries of various kinds. During the spring and 
summer it feeds on insects, caterpillars, and larve, coleoptera of various kinds, small grasshoppers, 
&c. &c., and feeds its young on these; and when the fruit is ripe it devours various kinds of 
garden-fruit, especially cherries, with avidity. It is active in its movements on the ground, more 
so than the other Sparrows, and is swift on the wing, its flight somewhat resembling that of the 
Crossbill. Its call-note is harsh, resembling, Naumann says, that of the Brambling; but Brehm 
compares it to the word ziwit; and during the breeding-season the male utters a sort of song, 
which, however, is but poor and has but small claim to melody. In confinement it is said to 
become very tame, and soon learns to copy the notes of other birds near it. 
It nests, like the House-Sparrow, in holes in the rocks and old walls or hollow trees, making 
a somewhat bulky and carelessly constructed nest of straw, grass-bents, fine roots, wool, hair, and 
bits of rag, &c., lined with an abundance of feathers; and, so far as I can ascertain, it only has 
one brood in the season, the eggs being deposited in May or June. ‘These, from four to seven in 
number, resemble the eggs of the common Sparrow so closely that they cannot with certainty be 
distinguished ; but, as a rule, they are rather larger, and, judging from the series in my collection, 
dark varieties of the egg of the Rock-Sparrow are more numerous than in a series of those of the 
common Sparrow. 
The specimen figured, on the same Plate with Petronia brachydactyla, is the adult male 
above described. 
In the preparation of the above article I have examined the following specimens :— 
E Mus. H. E. Dresser. 
a, 3. Seville, Spain, February 18th, 1871 (Colonel Irby). 6, 3. Seville, June (Irby). c, $. Barcelona, Spain, 
March 3rd, 1866 (H. E. Dresser). d, 3. Ajaccio, Corsica, December 22nd, 1874(C. B. Wharton). e, juv., 
J; juv., g,juv. Attica, July Ist, 9th, and 11th, 1867 (Dr. Kriiper). h, 2. Mayin, N. of Shiraz, 8. Persia, 
June 24th, 1872 (W.T. Blanford). i, 3. Castelcorizo, Asia Minor, December 14th, 1874 (C. G. Danford). 
Jj, 3. Bereketli, Asia Minor, April 29th, 1876 (C. G. Danford). 
