80 TURDID^. 



habits and colour of the egg of this species ally it to the Saxico- 

 lince. It is probable that the position of Cercomela is among the 

 Brachypterygince. 



The Bock-Chat seems to have the habits of Saxicola, frequenting 

 stony tracts of land and breeding in holes of rocks and old build- 

 ings. The sexes are alike, the plumage is very dull, and there is 

 little or no seasonal change of plumage. 



In Cercomela the bill and rictal bristles resemble those of 

 Saxicola ; the wing is blunt and the first primary is about half the 

 length of the second ; the tail is entirely of one colour and much 

 shorter than the wing, and the tarsus is short. 



Cercomela melanura (Temm.) occurs in Palestine, Ai'abia, and 

 North-east Africa, and has been met with at Aden. This species 

 was included among the birds of India by Jerdon, on the authority 

 of Blyth, who identified it by a drawing in the possession of Sir A. 

 Burnes. The bird, from which the drawing w r as taken, is stated to 

 have been killed in Sind. I do not propose to include this species 

 in my list, as I do not consider its occurrence in India sufficiently 

 well authenticated. The general colour of the plumage is grey, 

 paler beneath, and the tail and upper tail-coverts are black : tail 

 2-3; wing 3-1. 



629. Cercomela fusca. The Brown Roclc-Chat. 



Saxicola fusca, Blyth, J. A. 8. B. xx, p. 523 (1851) ; id. Cat. p. xi. 

 Cercomela fusca (Blyth), Jerd. B. I. ii, p. 134; Stoliczka, J. A. 8. B. 



xli, pt, ii, p. 240 ; Hume, N. $ E. p. 319 ; Adam, S. F. i, p. 380 ; 



Butler, 8. F. iii, p. 477; Hume, Cat. no. 494; Barnes, Birds Bom. 



p. 20G ; Oates in Humes N. Sf E. 2nd ed. ii, p. 54. 

 Myrmecocichla fusca (Blyth), Seebohm, Cat. B. M. v, p. 360. 



Shama, Cent. Prov. 



Coloration. Upper plumage dull rufous-brown, the feathers of 

 the upper tail-coverts darker ; wings brown, every feather edged 

 with rufous-brown ; sides of the head and lower plumage dull fer- 

 ruginous ; tail very dark brown. 



Legs and feet black; bill black; iris dark brown (Hume). 



Length about 6*5 ; tail 2*6 ; wing 3*5 ; tarsus 1 ; bill from 

 gape '85. 



Distribution. A resident in a considerable portion of the central 

 parts of the Indian peninsula. The western limits of this species 

 appear to be a line drawn from Cutch through Jodhpur to 

 Hardwar. Thence it extends to Chunar, near Benares, on the 

 east, and to Jubbulpur on the south, and I have not been able to 

 trace its distribution more accurately than this. 



Habits, SfC Breeds from March to July, constructing a nest of 

 grass and roots, lined with hair and w 7 ool, in holes of walls, 

 quarries, banks, and cliffs, and laying three or four eggs, which are 

 blue marked with rufous, and measure about *82 by "62. 



