THE WHEAT/EARS. 297 



Adult Male. — General colour above bright sandy-rufous, over- 

 shaded with ashy margins to the feathers, the lower back and 

 rump brighter sandy-rufous, the lower rump and upper tail- 

 coverts creamy-white, washed with sandy-rufous ; scapulars like 

 the back ; wing-coverts black, the inner, median, and greater 

 coverts white or sandy-white, forming a large wing-patch ; rest 

 of the wing black, the inner secondaries edged with sandy- 

 brown ; tail-feathers entirely black, with a white base for about 

 one-third the length of the feather; head like the back, or a 

 trifle greyer, with a white line across the base of the forehead 

 extending back over the eye and forming an eyebrow; lores 

 and feathers above the eye, sides of face and ear-coverts, and 

 throat black ; remainder of under surface of body sandy-rufous, 

 as also the sides of the body ; the centre of the breast, abdomen, 

 and under tail-coverts whiter; axillaries black, tipped with white; 

 under wing-coverts white ; quills dusky below, white along the 

 inner web ; edge of wing black ; bill black ; feet and claws 

 black ; iris deep brown. Total length, 6 inches ; culmen, o'6 ; 

 wing, 3-6; tail, 2*5; tarsus, 1*05. 



Adult Female. — Differs from the male in wanting the black on 

 the face and throat ; the whole upper surface sandy-brown ; 

 the upper tail-coverts sandy-rufous ; tail as in the male ; wings 

 not black, but brown, the feathers edged with sandy-rufous; lores 

 whitish ; ear-coverts light rufous ; cheeks and entire under sur- 

 face of body pale sandy-rufous, inclining to isabelline on the 

 abdomen and under tail-coverts ; under wing coverts and axil- 

 laries white, with dusky bases ; quills ashy-brown below, white 

 along the inner edge. Total length, 57 inches ; wing, 3-5. 



Note. — The male of the Desert Wheatear is very distinct, but the 

 female might be confounded with the hen of some of the allied species. 

 It may be well to mention, therefore, that it can be distinguished from the 

 females of S. cenanthe and S. stapazina by its blacker tail, the basal third 

 of which only is white. 



Range in Great Britain. — Obtained on two occasions : once near 

 Alloa, in Scotland, on the 26th of November, 1880, and a 

 second near Holderness, on the 17th October, 1885. The 

 former was exhibited before the Zoological Society by Mr. J. J. 

 Dalgleish, and the second by Mr. W. Eagle Clarke. 



Range outside the British Islands. — The Desert Chat is an African 



