SAXICOLA DILUTA. 243 
228. SaxicoLA DILUTA. Pale-coloured Grey Wheat-ear. 
Messrs. Blanford and Dresser were apparently justified in con- 
sidering this to be a distinct bird; at all events it is difficult to 
assign it as the young of any of the South-African Chats. So much, 
however, remains to be discovered concerning the plumages of these 
variable birds that the number of species of these grey-backed species 
may yet be diminished on careful observation. The describers give 
the following diagnosis: “ upper parts to the rump pale cinereous ; 
rump and basal portion of all the tail-feathers, except the central 
pair, white ; shoulders white or whitish.’ Unlike S. cinerea, the 
second primary is not emarginate. 
This Wheat-ear is, as yet, only known from Damara Land, and the 
typical specimens are from Hykomkap and Oosop on the Swakop 
River. Some mistake has occurred in the paper of Messrs. Blanford 
and Dresser, where they state that they have “seen three specimens 
marked as males in Mr. Sharpe’s collection and two in the British 
Museum,” as there are only four specimens altogether in the 
collections named and the only two which have the sexes marked 
are determined by Mr. Andersson as females. We may add that by 
the latter gentleman the species was considered to be the young of 
 Saxicola alpina” (his name for S. lewcomelena). They may yet 
turn out to be the immature birds of S. anderssonz, but we believe 
the young of S. leucomelceena to be wholly brown. 
The following is the original description of the above-named 
authors. 
Adult.—Upper parts to the rump, pale cinereous; shoulders, 
rump, and upper tail-coverts, white; central pair of rectrices 
blackish-brown ; outer rectrices white with black tips, the black 
usually running some distance up the external pair; sides of the 
head and underparts very pale cinereous, becoming whitish on the 
abdomen; under tail-coverts white and black mixed. In some 
specimens the head and nape are paler grey than the back, and the 
interscapulary feathers have dark shafts ; there are also dark shafts 
on some of the lesser wing-coverts near the carpus. Total length, 
about 5°5 inches: culmen, 0°8; wing, 4°1; tail, 2°55; tarsus, 1:22. 
Fig. Blanf. and Dresser, P. Z. 8. 1874, pl. xxxix. fig. 1. 
R2 
