398 Mr. A. L. Butler on Birds observed 



30th^ and another in the Khor A.rbat on May 3rd, were all 

 the examples that I saw of this common winter-visitor. 



33. Saxicola melanoleuca (Giild.). 

 Saxicola melanoleuca occidefitalis Salv. 



a. ? . Khor Arbat, 6. 5. 08. 



b. S. „ 7.5.08. 



c. ? . „ 13.5.08. 



The birds obtained at Khor Arbat belong to the western 

 form of the Black-throated Chat, with a markedly smaller 

 black gorget than in S. melanoleuca (Giild.), the eastern bird, 

 which is the form commonly met with in the Sudan from 

 autumn to spring. I only met with the three examples shot, 

 and unfortunately both the female specimens were destroyed 

 by a cat when drying. I compared the male with both forms 

 at the Natural History Museum, and Mr. M. J. NicoU, 

 whom I asked to examine it, also attributes it to the 

 western subspecies. 



A Black-throated Chat shot at Kliartoum on April 4th, 

 1908, also appears to me to be S. m. occidentalis. In both 

 this and the Khor Arbat bird, besides the smaller amount 

 of black on the throat, the wings measure 87 mm. against 

 89 mm, in several specimens of S. m. melanoleuca. In both 

 the testes were much enlarged, which was not the case in 

 specimens of S. m. melanoleuca shot in April. 



34. Saxicola leucopygia Brehm. 



0-0. cJ c? • Khor Arbat and Jebel Bawati, May 2nd to 16th. 



P-^- ? ? • „ ,, „ „ 



Of the fifteen males collected seven have the cap pure 

 white, two have the cap white except for a single black 

 feather, in four the cap is mixed black and white, in one the 

 head is entirely black, and in another (the only breeding 

 male) there is only a single white feather on the crown. 



Of the three females two (one of which had large eggs in 

 the ovary) have the cap pure white, and the third has the 

 head entirely black. This handsome Chat is very abundant 

 on the hills along the Red Sea coast, and its jetty black and 

 snowy white plumage make a pleasing contrast to the sombre 



