their supercilium, shoulders, and throat, by which they may be distinguished from other sparrows, such as the Kenya sparrow and the other rufous sparrows, which are common in much of the chestnut sparrow's range; or the house sparrow, which also occurs in parts of its range. The basic call of the chestnut sparrow is a subdued chirp, with two recorded variations: a scolding threat call, rendered chrrrrit or chrrrrreeeerrrrrrrr and a chew chew flight call. Displaying males give a high twittering trill, rendered as tchiweeza tchiweeza tchi-tchi-tchi-tchi- see-see-see-seeichi. Distribution and habitat The chestnut sparrow is found in East Africa in mostly lower country from Darfur through Kordofan, South Sudan, Somalia, Uganda, and Kenya to north-central Tanzania. Its range also extends northeast into the southwest and Great Rift Valley of Ethiopia. Like the golden sparrows, it is sometimes nomadic when not breeding. Vagrants have been recorded as far from their breeding range as Dar es Salaam. It is found mostly in dry savanna and in fields and villages, but unlike its relations the golden sparrows, it is sometimes found in swamps of papyrus (certain Cyperus spp.). Its population has not been quantified, but it appears to be common across a very large range and it is assessed by the IUCN Red List as Least Concern for global extinction. Behaviour and ecology Chestnut sparrows are gregarious, and are only occasionally found away from flocks. They frequently associate with queleas and other weavers. Adults feed on grass seeds, and those near human habitations will also eat crumbs and other household scraps. Nestlings are fed mostly softer grass seeds, and small beetles are also recorded in their diet. Breeding The nesting behaviour of the chestnut sparrow chestnut sparrow has been the subject of confusion. Early reports described the chestnut sparrow's nest as being a typical sparrow nest built in a tree; later it was reported that chestnut sparrows had elaborate nests like those of weavers. In 1967, the ornithologist Robert B. Payne studied chestnut sparrows in a grey-capped social weaver colony in an acacia grove near Lake Magadi in southern Kenya, and in 1969 he reported his findings in the ornithological journal The Ibis. Payne found that chestnut sparrows only nested by usurping the nests of the social-weavers. After reporting this, and noting that the distribution of the chestnut sparrow closely coincides with that of the social-weavers of the genus Pseudonigrita, Payne suggested that