CLASSIFIED NOTES 485 



on Heligoland, once on the Isle of May in Scotland (1909), in Italy, and apparently in Algeria. 

 It is replaced by a local breeding form in Cyprus, which is also migratory. [F. c. R. J.] 



BLACK- WEZA1EAR [Oeiidnthe 1 leucAra (GmeYm). Blackchat. French, traquet noir ; Italian, 

 monachella ncra]. 



1. Description. Recognised by its almost entirely black plumage. The sexes differ in 

 coloration, and the female is slightly smaller. Length? in. [178 mm.]. The deep brownish black 

 hue of the plumage is relieved only by the upper and under tail-coverts, and the tail, which are 

 white, but the middle pair of tail feathers have only the basal half white, and the terminal 

 half black ; the remainder is pure white, with a subterminal bar of black about a quarter of an 

 inch wide at the tip, fringed with white ; iris dark brown ; bill and feet black. The female has 

 the general colour of the upper and under parts smoke-brown, otherwise she resembles the male. 

 [w. i\ p. and T. w.] 



2. Distribution. The breeding-grounds of this chat are confined to the hilly districts of 

 the Iberian Peninsula, the south of France, and the Italian Riviera. It appears also to breed 

 in Sicily, and wanders occasionally to Italy. Two specimens have been obtained in England 

 (Sussex, 1909), and one observed on Fair Island in 1912. In North-west Africa it is replaced 

 by allied forms. [F. c. R. J.] 



SIBERIAN-STONECHAT [Saxicola 1 torqudta indica (Blyth); Pratincola maura (Pallas). 

 Indian stonechat. 



1. Description. Distinguished from the stonechat by its darker upper surface and in 

 having the upper tail-coverts uniform pure white. The sexes differ in coloration. Length 

 5 in. [127 mm.]. General colour of the upper parts of the body black, some of the feathers 

 having dusky fringes ; scapulars, outer webs of the secondaries, a patch on the sides of the 

 neck, and the upper tail-coverts pure white; throat black; chest, upper breast, and sides 

 of body uniform dark chesnut ; middle of the belly and under tail-coverts white ; axillaries 

 white, black at the base ; wings and tail black. In the female the general colour above is 

 of a blackish brown, all the feathers fringed with rufous ; upper tail-coverts white ; wings and 

 tail as in the male, but browner ; under surface of the body chesnut-buff, excepting the under 

 tail-coverts, which are white, [w. p. p. and T. w.] 



2. Distribution. The breeding-grounds of this race of stonechat lie mainly in Western 

 Siberia from the Petschora valley and the Southern Urals eastward through Russian Turkestan, 

 Transcaspia, Tian-Shan, Kashmir, and the Western Himalayas, apparently as far as Sikkim. 

 Its chief winter quarters lie in India, but it has been once recorded from England (Norfolk, 

 1904). Over the greater part of Europe from Southern Sweden to the Mediterranean and 

 North-west Africa, and also in the Caucasus, it is replaced by allied forms which winter in 

 Africa. [F. c. R. J.] 



LAPLAND-BLUETHROAT [Cyanecula svecica avecica (Linnaeus). German, Schwedisches 

 or Tundra-Blaukehlchen]. 



1. Description. Distinguished from the whitespotted-bluethroat by having the middle of 

 the throat light chesnut surrounded with blue. The sexes are unlike in coloration. Adult 

 male, length 4 in. [114 mm.]. Upper surface greyish brown, a well-defined white super- 

 cilium ; cheeks, throat, and upper chest rich ultramarine-blue, with a wide transverse bar of 



1 Since Volume I. of the British Bird Book was published it has been shown that the generic name Saxicola belongs 

 rightly to the Chats (hitherto generally known as Pratincola), and the correct name of the Wheatears is therefore 

 Oenanthe. 



VOL. IV. 3 Q 



