224 Mr. C. A. Wright's Fifth Appendix to a 



I have specimens from Upper Egypt, both with and without 

 the white head, and two very interesting examples — one having 

 the head pure Avhite, with one or two bhick feathers on the 

 white ground, and the other having the head black inter- 

 mixed with a few straggling white feathers — confirming the 

 conclusion already arrived at, that S. leucocephala and S. leu- 

 copyga are one and tlie same species. 



270. Saxicola melaxoleuca (Giild.). Black-throated 

 Chat. 



A specimen of Wheatear sent by me, some time ago, to Mr. 

 Dresser, has been determined by that author to be Saxicola 

 melanoleuca, an eastern form of the Russet Chat, as mentioned 

 in his / History of the Birds of Europe.' Other specimens, 

 shot by me, are in my collection. One, a fine adult male, an 

 exact counterpart of the plate, was shot on the 9th April, 

 when several others were seen. The description, made at the 

 time, was : — length 5| inches (15 cm.) ; beak and legs black; 

 first primary shorter than the third ; base of middle tail- 

 feathers white. I shot a female in the same field shortly 

 afterwards. The dimensions are precisely the same as the 

 male. The top of the head and back are brown, very slightly 

 tinged with isabelline ; wings darker ; extremity of tail-fea- 

 thers and two thirds of central ones blackish brown. The 

 patch on the throat and sides of the head is of the same shape 

 a)id extent as in the male, but rendered indistinct by the fea- 

 thers being tipped with grey, giving it a sooty look ; breast 

 rufescent cream-colour, which extends, more or less mixed 

 with white, to the under tail-coverts; upper tail-coverts and 

 basal ends of tail-feathers pure white ; faint indications of a 

 light superciliary streak ; beak and legs brown. Another 

 female, shot on the 18th of the same month and year, had 

 the head and back much more isabelline, reminding one of 

 the Desert Chat {S. isabellina) . A male obtained on the 24th 

 April, 1868, appears to be still in immature plumage, having 

 some resemblance to the female, but possessing the jet-black 

 throat and auriculars, this colour reaching very low down the 

 gular region and slightly above tlie eye. Another male, shot 



