2 2 ISABELLINE WHEATKAR. 



Northern China and the Upper Amur ; migrating to Northern 

 India, &€. 



The nest is generally placed in burrows ; those of such rodents 

 as Lagomys ogotona and Spermophilus eversvianni being utilized on 

 the steppes of Daiiria ; while near Smyrna the extensive tunnels 

 formed by the Asiatic mole-rat [Spalax typhhis) afford a convenient 

 retreat. The eggs are pale blue, similar to those of the Common 

 Wheatear, but a trifle larger: measurements "82 by •65 m. Breed- 

 ing commences in February in Abyssinia ; while by the middle of 

 May young are to be found nearly fledged in Asia Minor. Two 

 broods are probably reared in the season, as Canon Tristram obtained 

 eggs in Palestine in June. ]\Ir. Danford observed this Wheatear 

 frequenting barren ground, bushy hillsides, and even fir-woods in 

 Asia Minor, where it arrived on March gth ; and he describes its 

 notes as very peculiar, " the most striking being a cry resembling 

 that of a Sandpiper, which is uttered as the bird descends, after its 

 hovering flight and lark-like song." The call-note is zri^ zri, zri. 



Adult male : upper parts pale sandy-brown ; a buffish-white streak 

 from the base of the bill upwards to the back of the eye ; lores 

 black ; ear-coverts pale-brown ; upper tail-coverts white ; the two 

 central tail-feathers blackish-brown almost to their bases, which are 

 white ; the remainder white for the basal third, and blackish- 

 brown, narrowly tipped and margined with buff, on the lower 

 two-thirds ; wings brown, edged with buff, especially on the 

 secondaries and coverts ; under parts bufiish-white, deeper on the 

 neck and breast ; under iving-coverts and axillaries ivhite ; the ufider- 

 side of the qjiills being also conspicuously paler than in the Com- 

 mon Wheatear. Bill and legs black. Length 6*5 in. ; wing to the 

 tip of the third and longest quill, 3-9 in. ; tarsus i"2 in. Female: 

 duller in plumage and slightly smaller than the male. Young : 

 streaked with dark brown on the head, neck and breast ; wings and 

 tail broadly margined with rufous-buff. In autumn, as with other 

 Wheatears, the buff margins to the wing-feathers are very pro- 

 nounced. 



The distinguishing characteristics of the Isabelline Wheatear may 

 be thus summed up : — it is larger, more tawny, and has more black 

 in its comparatively short tail than any Common Wheatear ; the 

 colour of the under-wing is much lighter, and the bill and tarsi are 

 longer. 



