SAXICOLA. 145 



SeeboLm, in his Cnt. B. Br. Mus. p, 385, describes — Saxiccla 

 montana, Gould. B. As. pt. xvii. from Gwadiir, Yarkand and 

 Cashmere. I have a long series of the Desert Chat from Beloochistan, 

 S. Afghanistan, Sind, and Sibi in Afghanistan, and all have the basal 

 half of the inner webs of quills margined white. /S. deserti and 5. 

 niontana I believe to be the same species, the differences, if any, are due 

 to seasonal changes. In one stage of plumage (autumn and beginning 

 of winter) the edge of the wing is a mixture of buffy white and black, 

 the axillaries whitish, and the black feathers of the throat tipped with 

 buflPy white. 



Saxicola chrysopyg-ia, T)g. FiUippi, Arch. Zool. Gen ova, ii. 

 p. 38] ; id. Viarj. Pers. p. 347; Gray, Handlist B.i. p. 226; Blf. East, 

 Pers. ii. p, 151 ; Seebohm, Cat. B. Br M. p. 389; Murray, Hdbl-., Zool., 

 4'c., Sind,\j. 148. Saxicola kingi, Hiime, Ibis. 1871, p. 29; id. Str. 

 F. i. p. 187; vii. p. 57. — The Red-tailed Wheatear. 



A dark grey line from the gape to and under the eye ; a broad 

 slightly greyish white line from the nostrils over the eye,' much move 

 consjDicuous in some specimens than in others; ear-coverts silky rufes- 

 cent brown; forehead greyish brown; crown, occiput, nape, back and 

 scapulars, ueai^y uniform grey-eai'thy brown, as a rule only very slight- 

 ly tinged with rufescent towards the rump ; but in some specimens 

 more strongly so; rump and upper tail-coverts bright rufous fawn, 

 in some specimens pale rufous buff; tail feathers bright, in some pale, 

 ferruginous, with a sub-terminal blackish brown band extending over 

 both webs, and a narrow tipping of rufous white jets in at the shafts 

 for about the tenth of an inch ; occasionally on the lateral feathers, 

 the black bar is more or less imperfect, the dark band is from I'l to 

 1"4 broad on the central tail feathers, about 0*6 to 08 on the feathers 

 next the centre, and 0*4 to 0*6 on the external ones. The tertiaries 

 and most of the coverts are hair brown broadly margined with pale 

 rufescent; the winglet, primaries, and secondaries, and primary 

 greater coverts are slightly darker hair brown, very narrowly tipped 

 with white, and some of them, the secondaries especially, veiy narrowly 

 margined with pale rufescent ; the chin and upper throat white with 

 a faint creamy tinge ; the sides of the neck, behind and below the 

 ear-coverts, grey, greyish white and greyish brown, blending on 

 the one side into the colour of the throat, and oh the other into that of 

 the back of the neck. The breast and upper abdomen are a very pale 

 rufescent brown, all the tips of the feathers being paler. The 

 centre of the abdomen and vent slightly rufescent white ; flanks 

 rufescent fawn ; lower tail-coverts a somewhat pale buff; wing lining 

 and f.xillaries pure white; legs and feet black ; bill black ; irides dark 

 brown. 



Length. — 6"2 to 6*5 inches, expanse 10 to ITS, tail from vent 2*2 to 

 2'4, wings when closed reach to within 07 to 1*5 of end of tail, wing 

 3"7 to 4*4, the 3rd primary is the longest, the second 0"25, and the 1st 

 2'0 shorter than the third, the tail is perfectly square ; bill, length at 

 front 0'55 to U'6, tarsus 1 to TOl; foot, greatest length 1'15 to TS ; 



19 z 



