PASSER, 



183 



the coverts, tertiaries and some of the scapulars with a white spot ; 

 tail black, the outer feathers tipped with white ; lower tail-coverts 

 black ; lower abdomen sooty or blackish brown. The female is like 

 the male, with the lower back and rump tinged crimson and a few 

 white spots ; the abdomen and vent whitish, as also the lower tail- 

 coverts ; bill reddish, the upper mandible blackish on the edge ; iridea 

 crimson ; feet fleshy. 



Length. — 4 to 4'5 inches, wing 1*9, tail 1'4 



Ilab. — Throughout India to Assam and Burmah ; common in Sind> 

 affecting the woody districts, especially in the viciaity of the Indus. 

 Breeds from May to September, making a rather loose purse-shaped 

 structure of grass, and lined with the fine glossy filaments of Calotropis 

 procera. Eggs, like those of the Munia, white, but smaller, and moro 

 elongate. It is also common in Kutch, Kattiawar, Rajputana generally; 

 N. Guzerat, Deccan, Concan, Southern and Central India, Oudh and 

 Lower Bengal, extending to the Himalayas. 



Sub-Family, PASSERINE. 



Bill short, sloping to tip ; wings long and pointed j tarsi and tail 

 moderate, slender and transversely scaled. 



Gen. Passer. — Briss. 



Bill broad at base, slightly scooped at tip ; 2nd and 3rd quills long- 

 est ; nostrils partly covered by plumes. 



Passer indicus, Jard. and Selhy, III. Ind. Orn. pi. 118. Passer 

 domesticus, Blyth, Cat. 642 ; Jerd. B. Ind. ii. p. 362, No. 706; Murray, 

 HdbL, ZooL, 8)'c., Bind. p. 178. — The Indian Housb Spaeeow. 



Male. — Head and nape dark grey ; lores, feathers below the eye, 

 sides of the lower mandible, chin, throat and breast black ; mantle and 

 scapulars chestnut with dark mesial streaks ; rump and upper tail- 

 coverts ashy brown ; lesser wing-coverts chestnut, the last row or 

 series of feathers dark brown at the base and tipped with white ; the 

 greater series dark brown, edged with rufescent and tipped with fulvous 

 white; primaries, secondaries and tertiaries dusky brown, edged with 

 rufous, paler and narrow on the primaries, which are darkish brown on 

 the middle of their outer webs ; tertiaries tipped with fulvous white. 

 Sides of the face, and neck, and entire under surface white, the flanks 

 cinereous ; tail dusky or pale brown, the feathers edged with fulvous 

 brown. 



The Female is pale earthy or light brown, with a fulvous supercilium 

 extending to the nape and the lower parts less pure white ; bill horny 

 brown ; legs dusky ; irides light brown. 



Length. — 5'25 to 6 inches, wing 8, tail 2'25. 



Hob. — Throughout India to the Himalayas, Ceylon, Assam and 

 Upper Pegu ; also Beloochistan, Persia and Afghanistan. 



Passer saliciCOla. Viell. ; Boux. Om. Prov.t. 84; Gould. B.Eur. Tpl. 

 185,1 ; Sir. F. i. p. 209; Murray, Hdhk., Zoul., §-c., Sind. p. 178; Jerd. 

 B. Ind. ii. p. 364, No. 707. Passer hispaniolensis, Tern — The Willow 



Sl'AREOW. 



