SAXICOLIN^. 129 



Bill and legs black ; Irides dark brown. Length 5^ inches ; 

 wing 2g ; tail 2^ ; bill at front /tt ; tarsus not quite |. 



1 first procured this bird in dense swampy rose-thickets in 

 Purneah, near the banks of the Ganges, ^hen beating for game ; 

 and subsequently observed it along the icedy edge of some of the 

 rivers in Eastern Bengal and Cachar. Mr. W. Blanford obtained 

 it in Burmah, in long Elephant grass, and I doubt not it will be 

 found in similar situations throucrhout Lower Benjral and the coun- 

 tries to the Eastward. It is with diiliculty dislodged from the 

 thick coverts it frequents ; and quickly returns to its shelter. It is 

 probably, from the structure of its feet, a ground feeder, like the 

 rest of this family. 



It is possible that some of the Oceanic Sa.vicohe of Prince 

 Bonaparte, which he named Oreicola, may belong to the same type. 

 One of these is Sax. vielaiiolenca, IMiill., black above and white 

 beneath, but this has a white wing-spot, and ear-spot. Another is 

 S. luctuosa, ^Miill., black above and white beneath, but the wings 

 varied with white ; and S. pyrrJumota, Miill., has the back rufous. 

 All three are from Timor. Lanius silens, Shaw, of which Bona- 

 parte makes his genus Sigelus, perhaps should come near this 

 last form, which appears to have some affinities for Curriica. 



The next group are rather larger birds than the Chats, with 

 longer and more slender bills, longer wings, and a somewhat square 

 tail. They chiefly belong to the more barren regions of Asia 

 and Africa, frequenting the open plains, and most of them are 

 migratory in India, breeding probably in Central Asia. They 

 breed on the ground in some convenient nook, laying four or five 

 eggs, bluish white, with ferruginous speckles. 



Gen. Saxicola, Bechstein. 



Bill moderate, slender, straight and compressed, very slightly 

 inflected, with a blunt notch ; nostrils apert; rictal bristles feeble 

 or wanting; wings moderately long, pointed; the 1st short, 2nd 

 half an inch shorter than the 3rd, 4th, and 5th, Avhich are equal 

 and longest ; tail moderate, even, or very slightly rounded ; tarsus 

 long, strong ; feet moderate. 



This genus, as here restricted, comprises two groups ; one, with 

 pied plumage, of which S. leucura of Southern Europe may be 



R 



