7. MONTICOLA. 313 



the Ousels with the Chats. Like the former the adult males are 

 unspotted on the underparts, and, like the latter, the bill is long 

 and the tail is short, the tail never being four times the length of 

 the culmen. One species (J/, eryfhroyastra), however, is aberrant 

 in this respect. All the species have blue chins and throats and 

 chestnut breasts and bellies, except one, in which the chin and throat 

 are chestnut and white, and one* in which the breast and belly are also 

 blue. The bill and legs are black, with one exception, in which the 

 legs are brown. The rictal bristles are verj* small. The female 

 always differs from the male, and has the underparts barred with 

 both pale and dark bars except in one species. 



The Rock-Thrushes are ^^axicolinc in their habits, frequenting 

 open rocky country, breeding in holes in rocks, and laying blue eggs. 

 Most of them are fair songsters. 



Two species range throughout South Europe to North China 

 during the breeding-season. One species is resident in Abyssinia, 

 and three in South Africa. Two species breed in the Himalayas, 

 one of which extends also to West China. One species breeds in 

 South-east Siberia and North-cast China, whilst another appears to 

 be confined to East China and Japan. 



Key to the Species. 



a. Belly blue ci/anus, p. 316. 



b. Belly mixed blue and chestnut ajanus solitaria, p. 318. 



c. Belly chestnut. 



a'. Upper tail-coverts blue. 



a". Culmen about one third the length of 



the tail solitaria, p. 319. 



h". Culmen about one fourth the length of 



the tail erythrogastra, p. 325. 



h' . l^pper tail-coverts chestnut, 

 c". Throat blue or bluish. 



«'". No large white patch on the wing; 

 outside tail-feathers chestnut. 



«■•. Centre of back nearly white saxatilis, p. 313. 



¥. Centre of back brown, in strong con- 

 trast to the blue head rupestris, p. 322. 



c'. Head and back blue or bluish, or 

 both sooty brown. 

 «\ Length of wing 3-3 to 3*2 inches, rufocinerea, p. 327. 

 b'. Length of wing 4'2 to 3'7o inches. 



o". Lengtli oftarsus l'35to l"3inch exphirator, y>- 323. 

 b". Lengthof tarsus I'l to LUo inch brevipes, ^. '&2-1. 

 b'" . A white patch on the wing, formed 

 by the basal half of the outer web 



of the secondari(!S being white . . cinclorhyiicha, p. .3£0. 

 (/". Throat chestnut, with more or less white 



in the centre yularis, p. 326. 



1. Monticola saxatilis. 



Le Merle de roche, Bri^s. Orn. ii. p. 238 (17G0) ; Montb. Hid. Naf. 

 Oig. iii. p. ool, pi. xxiii. {1775) ; IJaiibent. PL Enl. no. o62 (177-5). 

 Le petit Merle de roche, Brisa. Orn. ii. p. 240 (1760). 



