606 
PASSEE ELAVICOLLIS. 
(Ibis, IS/S, p. 201), but omitted to do so. I met with it in October 1876, while on a trip to Cliilaw, close to 
Madampe. A considerable flock were together, in company with a number of Weaver-birds, on some openly- 
wooded grass-land near the sea. I only procured two specimens, as it was just sunset ; and on returning a 
couple of days afterwards, 1 did not see the flock. One of the birds in question was in heavy moult, acquiring 
new primaries, so that I am not of opinion that it had recently arrived from India, although the locality 
favours the idea that it and its companions may have been visitors to the island. 
Its occurrence in Ceylon is very interesting, as it ought by rights to be an indigenous bird there, being 
found over most of India. 
It is spread throughout the empire, from the Himalayas (in which it occurs to an elevation of 5000 feet) 
to the extreme south, extending in a westerly direction as far as Sindh, where Messrs. James and Blanford 
procured it, but not passing into Burmah. In the south, of late years, it has been noticed by the 
Ecv. Dr. Fairbank, who obtained it at Periakulam near the base of the Palanis ; he likewise remarks that it 
is found everywhere in the Khandala district, though in small numbers. Messrs. Davidson and Wender, too, 
met with it in the Sholapoor districts of the Deccan, where it was rare, but breeding notwithstanding. 
Mr. Ball records it from many localities between the Godaveri and the Ganges, and says that it is nowhere so 
abundant in Chota Nagpur as in the Satpura hills, where he hardly passed a day without seeing numbers, 
and in some places found it in the thickest jungles. About Mount Aboo it is common on the hills and in the 
plains, according to Capt. Butler, breeding on the mount in April. Mr. Hume says that he believes it to be 
only a seasonal visitant to Sindh and Kattiawar ; and Mr. J ames is of opinion that it breeds in the former 
region. Mr. A. Anderson procured it at Futtehgur, and Mr. Adam at Oudh, and remarks that it is very 
common all about the Sambhur Lake. Captain Marshall found it at Murree in July, and Mr. Brooks 
procured it at Dhunda above Mussoori. 
Habits . — Jerdon writes of this Sparrow as follows : — “ It frequents thin forest-jungle, also groves of trees, 
avenues, and gardens in the better wooded parts of the country. It lives in small parties, occasionally, 
diu’ing the cold weather, congregating in very large flocks ; feeds on various seeds, grains, and flower-buds, 
and has much the same manners and habits as the common House-Sparrow. It has also a very similar 
note.” On the occasion of my meeting it, it was associating in a flock in a characteristic spot of the north- 
west coast — open country, dotted here and there with clumps of by no means luxuriant wood, about the 
borders or in the middle of which stood ragged- looking trees with half-clad branches ; the troop was settling 
on the tops of the trees and uttering such a Sf>arrow-like chirp as they flew from one to the other that I took 
them for Common Sparrows, more particularly as they had the same style of flight. The food of the specimens 
pi’ocured consisted of seeds of various herbs. Mr. James writes that it is common to see them in Sindh 
feeding on the pollen of the flowers of the wild Caper. 
Nidification . — This Sparrow breeds in the plains of India in April and May, but in the Himalayas nests 
as late as July. It is said to breed throughout India, except in the extreme south, and in Orissa and Bengal 
proper {Hume). Good-sized trees, such as mangos, are generally chosen; and the nest is invariably placed in 
a hole, sometimes at a height of 30 feet from the ground. Mr. Hume writes : — “ On one oceasion I found 
a nest in a hole in a stem of an old Heens-bush [Capparis aphylla), which stem was barely 5 inches in diameter. 
The nest is generally only a little bundle of dry grass, thickly lined with feathers. If in a mango-grove much 
frequented by the common Green Paroquets, the feathers of these latter are sure to be chiefly used. Some- 
times, however, a more or less cup-shaped nest is formed of fine strips of bark and tow being added to the 
grass ; and, again, at times it is a regular pad of hair, tow, and wool, with a few feathers, all closely interwoven, 
and with only a little central hollow.” Four is the greatest number of eggs laid, three being often found. 
They are described as dull, glossless, moderately elongated ovals, sometimes pointed towards the small end. 
The ground-colour, of which little is visible, is “ greenish white, thickly streaked, some edged and blotched, 
all over with dingy brown, usually more a mixture of sepia or chocolatc-brown than any other shade.^’ They 
average in size 0'74 by 0'55 inch. 
