THE BIRDS OF LOWER EGYPT. 47 
May 2nd I found a large colony breeding in the sandy sides of a 
canal-bank three feet high. The nests, which were merely a 
scanty collection of small bents with no lining, were situated about 
three feet in, and contained fresh or slightly incubated eggs ; 
four seemed to be the full number. The eggs are pure white, 
and measure (average of eight) 17°8 x 12°5 mm. Several of the 
nesting-holes were also tenanted by a small toad ! 
34. C. rupestris obsoleta, Cab.—A few seen only in the Wadi 
Hof on May Sth and 7th. A female obtained had a large incuba- 
tion patch. 
35. Passer domesticus, subsp. ?—The Sparrow round Cairo is 
distinctly greyer on the upper parts than in P. domesticus 
domesticus, though it does not appear to be quite so -grey or 
bright as the Sparrow of the Fayoum, P. d. niloticus of Nicoll 
and Bonhote (Bull. B.O.C. vol. xxiii. pp. 101-2). I cannot, 
however, agree with Mr. Nicoll (‘Ibis,’ July, 1909, p. 476) in 
considering that the House-Sparrow found in the Delta is nearest 
to P. d. indicus, since in the former the ear-coverts are not pure 
white, and the chestnut stripes on the head do not meet to form 
a nuchal band as in the majority of indicus. The Delta Sparrow 
appears to me to be nearest P. d. niloticus. Dr. Madarasz has 
lately (Ann. Mus. Nat. Hungary, 1911, p. 340) described the 
Sparrow of Alexandria as P. alexandrinus; as I have not been 
able to see the type of this race, I am unable to say whether the 
Cairo birds belong to it or not, but it seems likely. 
36. Hrythrospiza githaginea (Licht.).—Single birds seen at 
the Wadi Hof on May 5th and 7th; on the latter day Mr. Nicoll 
secured an adult (‘ Ibis,’ July, 1909, p. 477). ‘These birds 
seemed rather wild, and, like many desert birds, are adepts at 
disappearing into space! The pink at the base of the tail is 
noticeable in flight. 
37. Galerida cristata nigricans, Brehm.—A very typical speci- 
men (a female) of this race was obtained in the cultivated land 
at Inchas, in the Delta, on May 2nd. It had the ovary much 
enlarged. Crested Larks obtained at the Abu Roash, near the 
Great Pyramid, which in May were nesting, however, present 
difficulties. They differ from typical nigricans in being less dark 
on the upper surface, and compared with a series of G.c. meritica 
‘of Nicoll and Bonhote (Bull. B.O.C. vol. xxiii. p. 101), from 
