332 Messrs. Butler, Feilden, and Reid on the 



for tlie greater part of the year 1881, we had a most favour- 

 able opportunity of observing the plumage, habits, and nidifi- 

 cation of Saxicola monticola, an exceedingly common and 

 resident species, concerning which we have already published 

 some short notes in our paper on the birds of Natal in the 

 ' Zoologist ' for 1882, p. 211. 



The variations in the plumage of the male of this species 

 are, however, so remarkable, and apparently so little under- 

 stood, that we think a few additional remarks on a point of 

 such interest may be acceptable in the form of a separate 

 article in ' The Ibis.' 



On first arriving in the Newcastle district, in March and 

 April 1881, we were greatly struck with the number and 

 universal distribution of the Chats of this kind to be met 

 with among the boulder-strewn hills on all sides of us, and 

 we fancied for a short time there must be two distinct species : 

 one with a tail only white, the other with a white tail and 

 white shoulders as well ; while the occasional occurrence of 

 other birds with additional white or grey markings of varied 

 extent considerably increased the difficulty of solving the 

 question. 



Soon, however, we found the white-tailed, white-shouldered 

 birds to be the males of the white-tailed females, and, as the 

 breeding-season approached, it became evident that the birds 

 with the extra white and grey coloration were also males of 

 the same species and were consorting with the white-tailed 

 females. On this point we think it advisable to reproduce 

 our notes on Saxicola monticola from the 'Zoologist,^ as 

 follows : — 



" Almost as common on the rocky hills as Myrmecocichla 

 formicivora is on the ' veldt.^ Like Monticola exploratory 

 they are very shy on first acquaintance, but soon acquire 

 confidence if unmolested. Their song is pretty, though not 

 very often heard. Many nests were taken in the neighbour- 

 hood of Newcastle ; in most cases the complement of eggs 

 was only three, pale bluish green spotted with brownish 

 rufous at the larger end ; they measure "90 by "65 inch. 

 " The plumage of the male is subject to great variation. 



