THE INDIAN HOUSE-SPARROW. 
347 
ashy grey ; tail brown, margined paler ; lesser wing-coverts chestnut ; 
median coverts blackish, broadly tipped with white ; greater coverts 
blackish, broadly margined with rufous and tipped paler; quills dark 
brown, margined with pale rufous. 
^\\Q female has the head from the forehead to the nape and the extreme 
upper back with the rump and upper tail-coverts brown ; the back and 
scapulars pale rufous, with the inner webs chiefly black ; tail brown, edged 
paler ; a rather broad supercilium pale rufous-white ; sides of the head ashy 
brown ; the whole lower plumage ashy white, darker on the breast ; lesser 
wing-coverts brown ; median coverts blackish, broadly tipped with rufous- 
white ; greater coverts and wings dark brown, edged with pale rufous. 
In fresh plumage both sexes have the feathers of the back margined with 
ashy; but these margins soon wear off. 
Bill in the male blackish, in the female brown ; iris brown ; legs brownish 
flesh-colour ; claws brown. 
Length 6 inches, tail 2*2, wing 3, tarsus '75, bill from gape *55. The 
female is rather smaller. 
The Indian Sparrow differs from the European bird in having the sides 
of the head pure white instead of ashy white, and in being much brighter 
in coloration. P. pyrrhonotus is similar to P. indicus, but smaller ; and 
P. flavicollis may be recognized by the yellow spot on the throat. Both 
these species inhabit India. 
The Indian House-Sparrow is generally diffused over Arrakan and Pegu, 
but is not so abundant as the next species. In Tenasserim it appears to be 
rarely met with. Both Capt. Bingham and Mr. Davison observed it at 
Moulmein and its neighbourhood, but nowhere else. 
It is not known to occur in China ; but Dr. Tiraud states that it is found 
in Cochin China in the same localities as P. montanus. It is spread over 
the Indo- Burmese countries and is met with over the whole peninsula of 
India and Ceylon. To the west of India the European form begins to 
appear. 
This well-known Sparrow is entirely an inhabitant of villages and towns, 
although a few may often be seen in and about isolated houses in the jungle. 
This species and the next are usually found together. It breeds throughout 
the dry weather, commencing as soon as the rains are over. The nest, 
which is a shapeless mass of grass, straws, rags and feathers, is placed in 
any convenient corner in the roofs of buildings, and occasionally in a 
bamboo-clump near a house. The eggs, usually five in number, are white 
or greenish, marked with various shades of brown. 
