388 TURDID.E. 



This is a "Western form of ^S. melanoleuca, differing onlj' in having 

 the black on the throat not extending beyond the upper throat. It 

 is also more constantly suffused with buff on the back and breast. 

 Intermediate forms occur ; and examples from Spain, in which the 

 black on the throat is more extended than usual, are indistinguish- 

 able from examples from Asia Minor, in which the black on the 

 thi'oat is less extended than usual. There is no difference in size. 

 It appears to go through the same changes of plumage as its Eastern 

 ally, and both males and females are on an average more rufous at 

 all seasons. 



The Western form of the Black-throated Chat breeds in the south 

 of France, Spain, Western Algiers, and Morocco, wintering in 

 Western Africa. 



a, h. c? ad. st. Em-ope. Baron Laugier. 



e. (S ad. sk. Ain Djendeli, Algeria, May 1.3, F. Godman and 0. Sal- 

 1857 (O. -SV). viu, Esqrs. [P.]. 



d. S ad. sk. Egyptian Nubia. E. B. Sharps, Esq. 



e. (5 ad. sk. River Gambia. R. B. Sharpe, Esq. 



f. Skeleton. South Em-ope. Purchased. 



21, Saxicola finschii. 



Saxicola stapazina (Linn.), apiid Menetr. Cat. Rais. Caiic. p. 30 (1832). 

 Saxicola libanotica, Hempr. et £hr. apiid Tristram, Ibis, 1867, pp. 91, 



Saxicola finschii, Heuijl Orn. N.O.-Afr. i. p. 3-50 (1869). 



Saxicola xauthomeljena, Hempr. et Ehr. apud Shelley, B. Egypt, p. 74 



Saxicola ervthrffia, Hempr. et Ehr. apud Blanf. 8f Dresser, P. Z. S. 

 1874, p. 222 ; apud Dresser, B. Eur. pt. xxv! (1874) ; apud Blanf. 

 East. Pers. ii. p. 150 (1876); apud Danford, Ibis, 1878, p. 16; ajnid 

 Boyd. B. Cauc. p. 92 (1879). 



Adult male in hreeding-jilmnar/e. General colour white, occa- 

 sionally suffused with grey or buff; lores, sides of the neck, ear- 

 coverts, chin, throat, upper breast, scapulars, wing-coverts, quills, 

 axillaries, and under wing-coverts black ; tail-feathers white, the 

 two central feathers black for the terminal half, the remaining 

 feathers tipped with black from a quarter to half an inch ; under 

 surface of quills dark brown, paler on the margin of the basal half 

 of the inner webs. Eill, legs, feet, and claws black. Wing with 

 the third, fourth, and fifth primaries nearly equal and longest, 

 second primary slightly shorter than the fifth, bastard primary 

 0-8 to 0-7 inch. Length of wing 3-6 to 3-25 inches (females 3-3 to 

 3-1), tail 2-4 to 2-15, culmen 0-68 to 0-62, tarsus 1-0 to 0-9. 



In the female the rump, upper tail-coverts, tail, and the under- 

 parts below the breast resemble the male ; the rest of the upper 

 parts are grey, darker and browner on the wings ; the feathers of 

 the chin and throat are pale grey, with more or less concealed black 

 bases. Nothing is known of the changes of plumage which this 

 Chat undergoes, except that in females of the year the pale grey tips 

 to the feathers of the throat entirely conceal the dark bases. 



