78 



626. Saxicola deserti. The Desert Chat. 



Saxicola deserti, Temm. PI. Col. pi. 359, fig. 2 (1825) ; Jerd. B. I. 



ii ; p. 132 ; Stoliczka, J. A. S. B. xxxvii, pf. ii, p. 42 Hume, S. F. 



i, p. 188 ; Blanf. 8f Dresser, P. Z. S. 1874, p. 224 (part.) ; Scully, 



S. F. iv, p. 143 j Hume, Cat. no. 492 ; Seebohm, Cat. B. M. v, 



p. 383 ; Barnes, Birds Bom. p. 205. 

 Saxicola atrogularis, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xvi, p. 131 (1847) ; Blyth, 



Cat. p. 167 ; Horsf. fy M. Cat. i, p. 287 j Hume $ Senders. Lah. 



to Yark. p. 205. 



The Black-throated Wheatear, Jerd. 



Coloration. Male. After the autumn moult the upper plumage 

 is rich buff, turning to pale fulvous-white on the rump and upper 

 tail-coverts ; basal third of tail-feathers white, remainder black ; 

 wing-coverts and quills black, all the feathers more or less mar- 

 gined with white ; the tertiaries broadly margined with buff ; the 

 inner coverts white ; feathers at base of upper mandible and a 

 supercilium pale buff ; sides of head and neck, chin, and throat 

 black, fringed with pale buff ; remainder of lower plumage buff, 

 brightest on the breast ; under wing-coverts and axillaries black, 

 tipped with white; the inner webs of quills, when viewed from 

 below, narrowly margined with white. In spring and summer the 

 supercilium becomes more distinct, the fringes of all the black 

 feathers disappear, and the mantle is marked with dusky; the 

 under wing-coverts and axillaries frequently become entirely black. 



Female. Resembles the male in general appearance, but has the 

 colours duller and the supercilium paler ; the chin, throat, sides of 

 head and of neck pale brown, not black ; ear-coverts rich brown ; 

 all the wing-coverts and quills brown, broadly margined with buff, 

 and the inner coverts not white as in the male ; under wing-coverts 

 brown, tipped white. 



Bill, legs, and feet black ; iris brown (Hume). 



Length about 6'5 ; tail 2'7 ; wing 3*7 ; tarsus 1 ; bill from 

 gape '85. 



Distribution. A winter visitor to the plains of India, where the 

 limits of this species are almost identical with those of S. isabellina, 

 being the latitude of Bombay on the south and Nagpur on the 

 east. This Chat has been obtained at Sambhar in June, and it is 

 not improbable that this and other Chats, which are considered 

 winter visitors, may remain in small numbers to breed in some of 

 the less-frequented parts of the deserts of Eajputana and Sind. 

 The Desert-Chat breeds in Turkestan, and at the seasons of passage 

 to and fro must occur in Kashmir and Grilgit. It is common, 

 according to Stoliczka, in Western Tibet. It ranges west as far 

 as Algeria. 



627. Saxicola montana. Gould's Chat. 



Saxicola montana, Gould, Birds Asia, iv, pi. 30 (1865) ; Seebohm. Cat. 

 B. M. v, p. 384 ; St. John, Ibis, 1889, p. 164. 



Coloration. Male. Hesembles the male of S. deserti, but has 



