584 MOTACILLID^. 



and Mr. Wyatt met with it in Sinai. Further to the east- 

 ward it frequents the high lands of Persia and Beloochistan, 

 where Mr. Blanford obtained a good series of specimens, 

 and it has been said to occur in North-western India, but 

 examples thence present some differences and may deserve 

 specific recognition. It also occurs in China and Mr. Swinhoe 

 has received it from the Kurile Islands. 



The bill is nearly black, with the edges of the lower 

 mandible paler : the irides dark brown. In the breeding- 

 season the top of the head, lores, ear-coverts and upper parts 

 of the body generally are greyish-brown, passing into olive- 

 brown towards the rump, and very slightly mottled with 

 darker streaks along the middle of each feather ; over the 

 eyes and ear-coverts a distinct white stripe ; wings dark 

 greyish-brown, the feathers edged and tipped with lighter 

 brown, these edges and tips being broadest on the upper 

 coverts, where they form two conspicuous bars, and tertials, 

 but gradually narrowing to the primaries ; tail dark greyish- 

 brown, the middle pair of quills with indistinct bars of a 

 slightly darker shade and the edges lighter, the succeeding 

 quills to the outer jaair have their edges very narrow, the 

 outer pair have the outer web and the distal portion of the 

 inner web, in the form of an elongated triangular patch, pure 

 white, while the second pair have a similar but smaller 

 triangular patch of pure white at the tip of the inner web ; 

 the chin and a line under the ear-coverts nearly pure white, 

 passing into a pale but warm vinaceous buff on the throat 

 and breast, which becomes lighter on the belly, while the 

 vent and lower tail-coverts are white tinged with ochreous ; 

 the flanks are deep hair-brown : the legs and toes blackish- 

 brown, the claws black. 



The entire length is about seven inches, and that of the 

 wing, from the carj)al joint to the tip of the third and longest 

 primary, is about three inches and a half ; but as in other 

 Pipits there is often much difference in the size of specimens. 

 The third, fourth and fifth primaries are nearly equal, and are 

 emargiuated near the tip ; but the third is the longest and 

 all of them are longer than the second. 



