70 



east to Sehwan, whence *! have seen a specimen procured by Brooks 

 in January. This species is said to be a winter visitor to Sind, 

 but this statement requires confirmation. It extends westwards 

 to Baluchistan and Afghanistan, and on to Palestine, occurring 

 also in Nubia. 



617. Saxicola albinigra. Hume's Chat. 



S axicola alboniger, Hume, S. F. i, p. 2 (1873) ; Blanf. $ Dresser, 



P. Z. S. 1874, p. 226 ; Blanf. East. Pers. ii, p. 153, pi. xi ; Seebohm, 



Cat. B. M. v, p. 366; Hume, Cat. no. 489 bis; Barnes, Birds 



Bom. p. 202; Biddulph, Ibis, 1881, p. 58; Scully, Ibis, 1881, 



p. 442. 



Dromolgea alboniger (Hume), Hume, S. F. i, p. 185. 



Coloration. The sexes are alike. The whole head, neck, back, 

 scapulars, sides of breast, axillaries, and under wing-coverts deep 

 black ; wings dark brown, the coverts edged with black ; remainder 

 of the plumage white, except the terminal half of the middle tail- 

 feathers and a terminal band on .the laterals, which are black. 



Bill, legs, and feet black (Hume Coll.). 



Length about 7 ; tail 2'8 ; wing 4 ; tarsus 1 ; bill from gape '9. 



Distribution. The hills dividing Sind from Khelat, ranging west 

 to Sehwan and Larkana; Gilgit at 5000 feet; extending east to 

 Persia. 



This species is no doubt resident in Sind and GilgJt, as it pro- 

 bably is in the other parts of its somewhat limited range. I have 

 seen specimens killed on the following dates : Gilgit, January 

 and June ; Sind, November to January ; Baluchistan and Mekran 

 Coast, February, April, August, and November; Afghanistan, 

 August and December ; Persia, May. 



The- next two species are united by Hume and some other orni- 

 thologists, but I consider them distinct on the following grounds : 

 S. picata, a species with the crown black, visits the plains of India 

 only in the winter, and retires for the summer to the mountains 

 of Afghanistan and Kashmir. S. capistrata, a species with the 

 crown white, is a constant resident in the plains of India and the 

 lower parts of Afghanistan, and is never found on the mountains. 

 The females of both species when in good plumage, from Septem- 

 ber to April, are quite distinct, and may be recognized without 

 difficulty by their colour. 



A few birds obtained in Gilgit have the crown largely white, 

 but they were shot just before the autumn moult, when the feathers 

 of that part are extremely \vorn and ragged, and this may be the 

 result of bleaching. I do not think too much importance should 

 be attached, to the occurrence of these abnormal specimens among 

 a very large series of typical S. picata. In the same way a few 

 specimens from the plains of India exhibit some black among 



