G24 Letter. 



LI V. — Letter — Obituary. 

 We liave received the following letter, addressed " to the 

 Editors of ' The Ibis'" :— 



Sirs, — When recently looking over my collection of Chats, 

 I made the following interesting discovery, which seems to 

 have hitherto escaped the notice of ornithologists, viz., that 

 there are two very distinct forms of the Black-eared Chat 

 [Saxicola aurita Temm.), one being of the described type, 

 occurring in South-eastern Europe, Asia Minor, and North- 

 eastern Africa, while the other, which is apparently un- 

 described, occurs in South-western Europe and North-western 

 Africa. 



The points of difference between these two forms ai'c, I 

 think, of sufficient importance to justify the specific sepa- 

 ration of one from the other, being, in fact, precisely those 

 occurring between the two very closely-allied species 

 S. melanoleuca and S. stapazina {vide Ibis, 1895, p. 93), 

 with the exception, of course, of the black throat-band, 

 more extended in the former than in the latter. 



The Western Black-eared Chat differs from the Eastern 

 bird in the following respects : — 



(a) The black of the lores does not extend over the base 

 of the bill in a narrow frontal band, this point being 

 of a creamy-white colour, the same as the rest of 

 the crown. 

 {b) The scapulars are cream-coloured, and not black. 

 {c) The under surface of the wings, both primaries and 

 secondaries, is of a light colour, sometimes quite 

 white, instead of being black. 

 The adult male of the Western bird moreover does not 

 seem to assume, as a rule, the silvery- white plumage on the 

 head and back found in adult examples of S. aurita in spring, 

 but remains always more or less cream-coloured. 



On the other hand, the Western bird is generally whiter on 

 the throat and underparts than the Eastern bird. 



In some specimens of the Western form there is very little 

 black on the lores, some examples indeed having none at all, 

 although probably this is exceptional. 



