Mr. E. C. Taylov— Eg i/pt Revisited. 51) 



and white ? If so, Saxicola luyens may claim to be a Dromolaa. 

 Is it superiority iu size? If so, then may Saxicola isahelUna, which 

 is fully as large as any of the family. I therefore prefer to 

 retain the old genus Saxicola for all the true Chats. The beau- 

 tiful Whitehcaded Chat is found all over Egypt, wherever the 

 rocks, in which it delights, are to be found. I shot a pair in the 

 desert about a mile south of Cairo, in the month of January. 

 It is particularly abundant among the granite rocks about As- 

 souan and the First Cataract, and is always to be seen among 

 rocks in the desert, and never on cultivated land. The plumage 

 of this species is of the most beautiful jet-black, and not 

 brownish-black like Saxicola leucura, Gm ., which I never saw in 

 Egypt. I consider the white crown to be a mark of advanced 

 age. 



54. Saxicola leucopygia (A. E. Brehm). White-rumped 

 Chat. 



I am decidedly of opinion that this is no good species at all*, 

 but merely the preceding one at a less advanced age. The fol- 

 lowing are my reasons : — With the exception of the colour of 

 the crown of the head, there is absolutely no difference what- 

 ever between the birds. The white-headed birds have often a 

 few black feathers interspersed among the white feathers of the 

 crown. The black-headed birds have generally a few white 

 feathers similarly interspersed. And, more than all, I have 

 sometimes seen a white-headed bird and a black-headed bird 

 paired together. I believe that the white head is not acquired 

 till an advanced age, and that the bird breeds before it does ac- 

 quire it. Sex has nothing to do with the colour of the head. 



55. Saxicola monacha, Riippell. 



A rare species in Egypt. I possess two specimens, male and 

 female, procured there in January. It is the female of this 

 species that is figured by Hiippell {Atl. tab. 34, fig, a) as Saxi- 

 cola pallida. No wonder, then, that Dr. Adams's specimens (Ibis, 

 1864, p. 19) of Saxicola pallida were both females ! It would 

 be rather difficult to find a male S. pallida. I may state that 

 Dr. Sclater fully agrees with me in what I have stated about the 

 subject of Riippell's plate. 



* [C/. Tristram ia P. Z. S. 1864, p. 441.— Eu.] 



