PASSES ELAVICOLLIS. 
(THE YELLOW-THROATED SPARROW.) 
Fringilla Jlavicollis, Frankl. P. Z. S. 1831, p. 120. 
Gymnorisflavicollis, Blyth, J. A. S. B. 1844, xiii. p. 948 ; Ilorsf. & Moore, Cat. B. Mus.^E. 
I. Co. ii. p. 497 (1856) ; Hume, Nests and Eggs, ii. p. 461 (1874) ; id. Str. Feath. 1873, 
p. 420; Ball, ibid. 1874, p. 421; Fairbank, ibid. 1877, p. 408 ; Davidson & Wender, 
ibid. 1878, vii. p. 85 ; Ball, t. c. p. 223. 
Floceus jlavicollis, Sykes, P. Z. S. 1832, p. 94. 
Petronia jlavicollis, Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 120 (1849). 
Passer jlavicollis, Jerdon, B. of Ind. ii. p. 368 (1863); Blyth, Ihis, 1867, p. 42; Brooks, 
Str. Feath. 1875, p. 254 ; Butler & Hume, t. c. p. 497 ; Fairbank, ibid. 1876, p. 261. 
The Yellow-necJced or Jmigle-Sjgarrow, Jerdon. Baji, Hind., or Jangli-churi ; Adavi-pichke, 
also Konde ficliike, Telugu (Jerdon). 
Adult male (Euttehgur). Length 5-5 inches ; wing 3‘25 ; tail 2-3 ; tarsus 0-6 ; middle toe 0-55, claw (straight) 0-19 ; 
bill to gape 0-55. 
Female (Euttehgur). Length (from skin) O-o ; wing 3-02 to 3-2 ; tail 2-2. 
“ Iris brown ; bill black ; legs cinereous brown ” {Jerdon). 
Above from the forehead to the upper tail-coverts, including the scapulars, pale sandy brown ; wings and tail plain 
brown ; the least coverts cinnamon-red, forming a conspicuous shoulder-patch, the next row with deep wdiite tips, 
and the greater series with pale e.xternal edges and tips ; the secondaries with less pale margins, and the primaries 
and tail with fine light edges ; throat whitish, paling into sandy grey on the cheeks ; fore neck, chest, and flanks 
very pale greyish brown, becoming albescent on the breast, belly, and under tail-coverts ; on the centre of the 
fore neck a larye rich yellow spot. 
Female. Slightly paler above, with the red shoulder-spot not so deep in colour as in the male ; yellow neck-spot 
slightly smaller and of a somewhat less rich yellow. 
Young female (Madampe, Ceylon, October). Length 5'2 inches: wing 2'8 ; tail 1'8 ; bill to gape 0'55. 
Iris brown ; bill dark brown, lower mandible fleshy ; legs and feet dusky bluish. 
Above darker brown than the male above described ; wing-patch brownish cinnamon ; the coverts wanting the white 
tips ; quills, primary-coverts, and secondaries dark brown with pale edges ; beneath whitish, tinged with brow'uish 
grey, except on the throat and lower parts j yellow throat-spot very pale. Another example in moult has the 
yellow throat-spot almost imperceptible from abrasion ; the wing-spot is of the same dull coloim. 
Female (Euttehgur, January). Chestnut wing-spot brighter than the above, the median coverts conspicuously tipped 
with white ; the neck-spot sm.all, but pure yellow in colour ; this is the plumage after the first moult, the breeding- 
season being in May, and my birds being in first autumn plumage. 
Ols. This mteresting Sparrow belongs to a little group which was separated by Hodgson as Gynvwris -, ther(^re, 
according to Jerdon, two other species — P. petronius, Linn., of Europe, and P. superciliaris, A. Hay, 
They have the bill slightly longer and less robust, and the tail proportionately shorter than the other^k pariows, 
and are characterized by the peculiar throat-spot. Blyth considers the Yellow-throated Sparrows are in ° 
the ordinary Sparrow by the African Passer simplex, Licht., which has an intermediate form o bi an wan s e 
yellow pectoral spot and, to avoid a multiplicity of genera, I keep this bird in Passer, thoug it orms, pei aps, 
a recognizable subgenus. 
Distribution. — The Yellow-necked Sparrow is new to the avifauna of Ceylon, and has not yet been pub- 
lished as occurring in the island. I intended to have included it among the few species on which I made remarks 
