242 
Mr. W. L. Sclater on Birds collected 
North-Eastern Transvaal and the Inhambane, Beira, Goron- 
goza, and Tete districts of Portuguese East Africa. 
I consider it a misnomer to call this a Rock-Sparrow, as 
its habits exactly resemble those of the other members of the 
Sparrow tribe, and all that I have seen have been solitary or in 
pairs frequenting more or less timbered country and feeding 
on grain, seeds, the green shoots of trees and shrubs, &c., 
while often visiting native lands for this purpose. The call 
is very similar to that of P. melanurus , and only after long 
acquaintance with the species can a difference be detected. 
The soft parts are:—Irides hazel ; bill, upper mandible 
dark horn-brown, lower much paler; legs and toes slate- 
coloured.] 
84. Passer melanurus. 
CC. Durban Rd., Mch., Sept. (5); Tv. Wakkerstroom, 
A pi* (2). 
84 a . Passer melanurus damarensis. 
CC. Klipfontein, Apl., May, July (10) ; Port Nolloth, 
Aug. (2). 
The Damaraland Sparrow is separated by Reichenow from 
the Cape form by the “ purer black of the crown, while in 
the typical form the black is clearly intermixed with brown.’* 
I find in the Klipfontein males that the head is darkest in 
April, while later the feathers become worn and bleached, 
and the July birds are much paler on the head and back than 
those of April. I am unable to distinguish these from 
Damaraland birds in the British Museum or from Cape and 
Transvaal birds. The Namaqualand females, however, are 
distinctly paler and may perhaps justify the retaining of 
this subspecies. Grant has come to very similar conclusions. 
[This Sparrow seems very variable in the colour of the 
upper surface at the same time of year, especially among the 
females ; this is probably due to age, the darker birds being 
fully adult. 
There are two moulting females killed in March and 
April which are assuming a dark head and mantle, so that 
the conclusion come to by Dr. Sharpe in ' The Ibis ’ for 1904 
