294 Mr, T. Ayres on the Ornitkolor/y of Transvaal. 



Mr, Sharpe has kindly examiued these four sj>ecimen9, all 

 of which he considers to be referable to S. leucomelmia ; but 

 assuming this identification to be correct, I confess to feeling 

 very dovibtful as to whether S. leuconielcena and S. monticolu 

 are not, in reality, one and the same species, 



I also observe that the white on the wing of all these spe- 

 cimens, except in the fourth (which is apparently a younger 

 bird), is disposed in a manner exceedingly similar to the white 

 coverts and adjacent small white spot in the wing of the Ash- 

 backed Wheatear, for which I proposed the specific name 

 " tephronota " in ' The Ibis ' for 1877, p. 343, and that this 

 is also a bird of very similar dimensions. I think it not un- 

 likely that S. teplironota may ultimately prove to be merely a 

 grey phase of the same species. — J, H. G.] 



BuDYTEs FLAVA (Linn,). Grey-headed Yellow Wagtail. 

 Male, shot 3rd January. 



BuDYTES RAYi, Bou. Eay's Wagtail. 

 Male and female, shot 3rd January. 



294. MoNTicoLA BREViPEs, Waterh. Short-footed Rock- 

 Thrush. 



Male and female, shot near Potchefstroom, in the month 

 of August, by my brother, Mr. John Ayres. 



[The sexes of this pair of birds appear to have been ascer- 

 tained by Mr. John Ayres, having been marked by him on 

 the tickets attached to them. The measurements of the 

 two skins are as under : — 



MidcUe 

 Culmen. Wing. Tail. Tarsus, toe, s. u, 



in. in. in. in. in. 



(5 . . . -75 4-4 2-5 1 -8 



5 . . . . -75 4-1 2-3 1 -8 



The female specimen appears to be somewhat the older bird 

 of the two, and agrees with the description of the male given 

 in ' Contributions to Ornithology ' for 1852, p. 147, but has 

 the middle pair of rectrices blackish brown with ferruginous 

 bases, the latter colour extending further on the sides of the 

 feather than in the centre; the other feathers of the tail 



