(1098) Passer domesticus parkini.
The Kashmir House-Sparrow.
Passe)' domesticus parkini Whistler, Bull. B. O.C., xli, p. 13 (1920) (Srinagar). Passer domesticus. Blanf. & Oates, ii, p. 236 (part).
Vernacular names. Gouriya (Hind.).
Description. Very similar to P. d. confucius but decidedly bigger. The chestnut on the male is even deeper on the wings and the black on the breast is generally more extensive. The females are decidedly darker and more smoky-grey below .
Colours of soft parts as in the other races.
Measurements. Wing, 76 to 82 mm.; 73 to 76 mm.
Distribution. Kashmir, Ladakh and Tibet, wandering extensively in winter, at which season specimens have been obtained over the greater part of North-West India, Baluchistan, Kandahar and South Persia. Birds from Nepal and Sikkim are intermediate and more breeding specimens are needed before one can definitely ascertain what are resident breeding birds and what are merely casual visitors.
Nidification. Similar to that of the other races, breeding in practically every house of every village in Ladakh, Kashmir and Eastern Tibet between 5,000 and 15,000 feet. It breeds in the lower hills between April and July, often having second or even third broods up to September. In the higher mountains the season is more restricted, eggs being laid from June to August, Sixty eggs average 21.3 x 15.2 mm.: maxima 22.6 x 15.3 and 22.0 x 15.0 mm.; minima 20.0 x 14.6 and 22.0 x 14.5 mm.
Habits. Like those of the species but vast numbers of these birds migrate in autumn to the plains of Sind and North-West India. At the same time Osmaston shows that a great number of birds remain in Kashmir throughout the winter and there is certainly no great migration of Sparrows into the lower hills and adjacent plains of the United Provinces and Bihar.
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