Capt. G. E. Shelley on Egyptian Ornithology. 53 



throughout the year. It frequents the more barren and rocky 

 districts. 



The sexes are very different in plumage. 



71. Saxicola leucopygia, Brehm. 

 S. leucocephala, Brehm. 



These birds undoubtedly belong to the same species. They 

 are first met with by the Nile tourist at Assouan^ and on enter- 

 ing Nubia become exti'emely abundant. As early as April I 

 saw several young birds, all black-headed, two of which I shot, 

 in company with their undoubted parents, white-headed birds, 

 of which I likewise killed two. It is comparatively rare to 

 meet with a purely black-headed specimen, most having one or 

 more white feathers on the crown. I have shot them with 

 the black and white feathers mixed in nearly equal proportions. 

 I never saw a black -headed bird paired with a white-headed 

 one ; but Mr. E. Cavendish Taylor tells me that he has observed 

 them together : the rarity of such an occurrence may I think 

 be explained by their choosing their mates the first year, and 

 consequently pairs being of the same age. 



These birds are only shot in Egypt by the Nile tourists — that 

 is, killed before the inonth of April, in the early part of the 

 breeding-season. Now, if a white-headed specimen is shot, its 

 mate would probably not pair again until the traveller had left 

 the country; and should it select for its future partner a black- 

 headed bird, that bird by the following year, before it can be 

 observed by the ornithologist, will have gained the white head ; 

 and consequently it must be extremely rare to observe black- 

 headed and white-headed birds paired. On account of the rare 

 occurrence of birds of this species being paired while in their 

 different plumages, I am led to consider that the white head is 

 attained after the first breeding-season. 



In conclusion, I propose that the name Saxicola leucocephala 

 be erased from our lists of species, as only applicable to birds of 

 a certain age, and that that of Saxicola leucopygia be made to 

 include them all. Otherwise, while the parent bird might be 

 " leucocephala,'' the young one from its nest would be " leuco- 

 pygia:' 



