WHITE-FRONTED STONE-CHAT. 



" Saxicola frontalis, SWAINS. 

 Entirely uniform black ; front of the head snowy. 



THE Saxicolse, or Stone-chats, as instanced in the 

 last species, enjoy one of the widest geographic 

 ranges assigned to the insectivorous birds ; and as 

 they love open plains and sandy tracts, we conse- 

 quently find they are peculiarly abundant in the 

 African continent. The present species is one of 

 the rarer inhabitants of Western Africa, since a 

 specimen we have long possessed, and another in 

 the Fort Pitt museum at Chatham, are the only 

 examples we have yet seen. Dr. Riippell, however, 

 has informed us that he found it in Abyssinia. 



Its colouring is simple and striking ; the plumage 

 is of a deep and uniform black inclining a little to 

 grey, but directly in front of the head is a large 

 patch of snowy white ; this must give to the bird, 

 when running, a very singular appearance, and 

 render it a conspicuous object at some distance: 

 whether this white spot is a sexual distinction, 

 given only to the male, or whether it is common 

 also to, the female, is yet to be discovered. 



The size is equal to our common stone-chat, but 



