Birds of the Zarafschan Basin. 
447 
This is the common House-Sparrow of Turkestan. It is 
abundant in the towns of the cultivated area. 
26. Passer hispaniolensis. 
Passer hispaniolensis Sharpe, Cat. B. xii. p. 317. 
<?. Bokhara. 4, 8 Dec., 1907. Nos. 202, 217, 219, 221. 
S . „ 14 Nov., 1907. No. 182. 
? . „ 4, 8 Dec., 1907. Nos. 203, 204, 222, 
223, 224. 
This Sparrow is resident in the reed-beds of the lower 
Zarafschan Valley at 200 ft. 
27. Passer ammodendri. 
Passer ammodendri Sharpe, Cat. B. xii. p. 337. 
s. Bokhara, 14 Nov., 1907. No. 181. 
I never visited the saxaul forests on the sand-wastes of 
Transcaspia, so I never met with the Saxaul Sparrow in its 
true haunts. This single specimen I obtained on the lower 
Zarafschan, out of a flock of P. hispaniolensis. 
28. Petronia stcjlta. 
Petronia petronia Sharpe, Cat. B. xii. p. 289. 
s . Samarkand. 25 April, 1908. Nos. 361, 362, 363. 
Large flocks of these birds haunt the country just below 
the snow-line, moving higher up as the snow melts. 
The testes of these specimens were much enlarged, and 
the birds are probably early breeders. 
29. Montifringilla adamsi. 
Montifringilla adamsi Sharpe, Cat. B. xii. p. 261. 
d . Ak-sai Plateau. 20 Aug., 1908. No. 607. 
I obtained one example of Adams’ Snow-Finch at a height 
of 12.000 ft. on the Ak-sai Plateau, at the extreme south¬ 
west corner of the Tian Shan. The birds were very common 
there, and in every stage of plumage. But I have also seen 
them at 5000 ft. on the Hissar Mts. during a very cold spell 
in mid-winter. 
The Ak-sai Plateau is, probably, the northern limit of 
M. adamsi. Severtzoff does not mention it at all in his 
Fauna of Turkestan,’ Cashmere and Tibet being the true 
