426. Passer hispaniolensis

426. Spanish Sparrow.
PASSER HISPANIOLENSIS.
Passer hispaniolensis (Temm.), Man. d’Orn, p. 353 (1820) ; Gould, B. of E. iii. pl. 185 ; fig. 1 ; Dresser, iii. p. 593, pl. 177 ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Br. Mus. xii. p. 317 ; Oates, F. Brit. Ind. Birds, ii. p. 239 ; P. salicicola (Vieill.), Faun. Franc, p. 417 (1828).
Moineau espagnol, French ; Pardal, Portug. ; Gorrion molinero, Span. ; Passera sarda, Ital. ; Bolotnui-vorobey, Russ.
Male ad. (Spain). Like P. italioe, it has the head and nape rich chestnut, but the back is much darker and blacker, some of the feathers with white margins ; throat, lower neck, and breast deep black, the flanks broadly streaked with black. Culmen 0.52, wing 3.05, tail 2.45, taraus 0.85 inch. The female is undistinguishable from that of P. domesticus.
Hab. Southern Europe, North Africa, Canaries, and Cape Verde Islands ; Asia Minor, Persia, Turkestan, and India, east to Mirzapore.
Although in its general habits, note, &c., it resembles P. domesticus, it differs considerably in its choice of abode for it is not found near houses but inhabits woods and groves, build¬ing its nest in trees, and very frequently in the foundations of the nests of the larger birds of prey. The nest resembles that of P. domesticus, as do the eggs, but they are as a rule rather paler, and I have never seen dark varieties, which are often found of P. domesticus.