SAXICOLA. 67 



York. p. 20.3, pi. xii ; Anders. Yunnan Exped,, Arcs, p. 017; 

 Hume, Cat. no. 486 ; Scully, S. F. viii, p. 301. 

 Oreicola ferrea (Hodys.), Sharpe, Cat. B. M. iv, p. 200 ; Gates, B. B. 

 i, p. 283 ; id. in Hume's N. fy E. 2nd ed. ii, p. 50. 



iSarrak-chak-pho, Lepch. 



Coloration. Male. After the autumn moult the whole upper 

 plumage is dark ashy grey, all the feathers except those of the 

 rump centred with black and margined with a varying amount of 

 rusty ; coverts and quills black edged with grey, which inclines to 

 white on the tertiaries ; the inner greater coverts entirely white ; 

 tail black, the feathers increasingly margined with white, the outer 

 web of the outermost feather being entirely white ; a white super- 

 ciliuui from the forehead to the nape ; sides of the head black ; 

 lower plumage white, tinged with ashy across the breast and on the 

 thighs. 



The margins of the feathers of the upper plumage get worn 

 away rapidly, aud later on in the winter almost disappear, leaving 

 the upper parts black during the summer. 



Female. The whole upper plumage rufous ashy, the centres of 

 the feathers dark, but not very distinctly visible till the spring, 

 when the edges of the feathers are reduced in extent ; upper tail- 

 coverts chestnut ; tail brown, broadly edged with chestnut ; wings 

 brown, narrowly edged with rufous ; a pale grey supercilium ; sides 

 of the head reddish brown speckled with brown ; chin and throat 

 whitish ; remainder of lower plumage rufous ashy. 



The young are dark rufous-brown, with streaks aud spots of 

 fulvous, and broad rufous edges to the tail and wings. 



Iris brown; tail black; legs dark brown. 



Length nearly 6 ; tail 2'7 ; wing 2*7 ; tarsus *8 ; bill from 

 gape "65. 



Distribution. The Himalayas, from Murree and the Indus valley 

 in Kashmir to the extreme east of Assam. This species is found 

 up to 9000 feet in summer, and it descends to the valleys in the 

 winter. It extends in the winter from Assam through the hill- 

 ranges and Burma as far as Karennee, Central Tenasserim, and 

 the Thoungyeen valley. This Bush-Chat is found in China. 



Habits; <J"c. Breeds in the Himalayas from April to July, con- 

 structing a nest of grass, moss, and hair in a hole in the ground 

 or under the shelter of a stone or clod of earth. The eggs, four 

 or five in number, are pale green marked with reddish brown, and 

 measure about '1'2 by "57. It is not improbable that this species 

 may breed in some of the hill-ranges of Burma. 



Genus SAXICOLA, Bechst., 1802. 



The genus Saxicola contains a large number of species which 

 are essentially birds of deserts and waste lands, and they are most 

 developed in the dry parts of South-western Asia and Northern 

 Africa. The majority of them are migratory to a greater or less 



r2 



