630 Col. R. Meinertzhagen on Birds from [Ibis, 
A male shot on 3. ili. in the Upper Jordan Valley, with a 
wing of 80 mm., has a chocolate head and the back of Passer 
hispaniolensis, and is apparently a hybrid between P. d. 
biblicus and P. h. transeaspicus. 
Passer domesticus niloticns. 
Passer d. niloticus Nicoll & Bonhote, Bull. B. 0. C. xxii. 
1909, p. 101 : Fayoum. 
Passer alevcandrinus Madarasz, Ann. Mus. *Nat. Hist. 
Hung. ix. 1911, p. 340 : Alexandria. 
Passer d. chephreni Phillips, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 1913, 
p. 167 : Giza, near Cairo. 
Much smaller than biblicus in both wing and culmen, 
The sides of the head are whiter than in biblicus , but the ear- 
coverts are grey and never white. Wing of nine males 
71-75 mm., and of one female 73 mm. Two males from 
Alexandria run larger, having wings of 77 and 78 mm. 
Birds from El Arish in northern Sinai seem to he inter¬ 
mediate, four males having wings from 76 to 79 mm. 
The common resident Sparrow of the Egyptian Delta from 
Alexandria to Cairo and up the Nile as far as at least Wasta 
and the Fayoum. Absent from Mersa Matruli and Solium 
on the western Egyptian coast. No sparrows occur in the 
Siwa Oasis. Also common on the Suez Canal from Port 
Said to Suez. 
Passer domesticus halfae. 
Passer d. halfce Meinertzhagen, Bull. B. O. C. xli. 1921, 
p. 67 : Wadi Haifa. 
Very similar to arboreus , but slightly larger and less 
brightly coloured. Upper tail-coverts and rump pure smoky 
grey, whereas in arboreus these parts nearly always have a 
few feathers tipped with chestnut. The chestnut on the 
back is more confined and less intense. Differs from indicus 
in having the top of the head a paler brighter blue-grey and 
in being slightly smaller. Is at once distinguished from 
niloticus by the large extent of a brighter, purer chestnut on 
the back. Wing of five males 73 to 80 mm. 
