284 ALLEN'S NATURALIST'S LIBRARY. 



brown edges to the feathers ; cheeks and throat white, mottled 

 with dark brown margins to the feathers, the upper throat un- 

 spotted ; breast and sides of body pale golden-buff, the feathers 

 all edged with dusky brown, these markings becoming evanes- 

 cent on the abdomen; under tail-coverts golden-buff; thighs 

 white, washed with cinnamon ; axillaries and under wing-coverts 

 bright golden-buff or orange. Total length, 6*3 inches ; cul- 

 men, 075; wing, 4-55; tail, 2-2; tarsus, i'o. 



Range in Great Britain. Only a single instance of the occurrence 

 of the Rock-Thrush in our islands is authentic, a specimen 

 having been procured at Therfield in Hertfordshire on the 

 1 9th of May, 1843. This specimen was examined by Mr.Yarrell 

 in the flesh. 



Range outside the British Islands. The Rock-Thrush is a bird 

 of Central and Southern Europe, ranging eastwards to Turkestan, 

 Mongolia, and Northern China. It also nests in the valleys of 

 the Rhine and the rivers of Eastern France and in the Vosges 

 Mountains, as well as in some of the ranges of Central Ger- 

 many. It has occurred in Belgium and in Heligoland. It is 

 met with on migration in the Western Himalayas, at Gilgit and 

 in Ladak, and was obtained by Mr. Blanford near Ava, in 

 Burma. 



Habits. Canon Tristram describes the Rock-Thrush as very 

 like a Redstart in its actions, while other observers notice its 

 resemblance to a Wheatear, as it flits from rock to rock. Its 

 food consists of insects, but in the autumn berries and fruit are 

 eaten. The song is said to be rich and powerful, and almost 

 to rival that of the Blackcap. 



Nest. Always well-concealed and placed in the hole of a 

 rock or of a ruined building, more rarely in the hole of a tree 

 or of a house. The nest is composed of roots and grass, and 

 lined with finer roots, occasionally with a few feathers. It is 

 very like that of a Chat or a Redstart, and no mud is used in 

 its construction. 



Eggs. Four or five in number. Blue, like the Song-Thrush's 

 egg, but either spotless, or so faintly dotted with a few specks 

 of brown as to be almost uniform. The size and shape varies 

 a good deal. Axis, 1-1*15 inch; diam., 075-0-8. 



