CBROOMELA. 79 



almost the whole of the inner webs of the quills of the wing pure 

 white quite up to the shaft ; is also much larger, the wing measur- 

 ing 3*9 or 4 inches. 



Female. Resembles the female of S. deserti, but has a large 

 amount of white on the inner webs of the quills, whereas 8. deserti 

 has none or hardly any ; is also considerably larger. 



Distribution. 1 have examined specimens of this Chat killed by 

 Biddulph at Skardo on the Indus river in Kashmir in October ; 

 by Blanford at Gwadar, in Baluchistan, in December, and near 

 Dizak in March. 



Outside our limits this species occurs in Afghanistan in Sep- 

 tember, and in Turkestan and Tibet during the summer. It ranges 

 to the west as far as the island of Socotra, whence I have seen a 

 specimen killed in February. 



628. Saxicola chrysopygia. The Red-tailed Chat. 



Dromolsea chrysopygia, De Filippi, Arch. Zool. Genova, ii, p. 381 



(1803). 

 Saxicola kingi, Hume, Ibis, 1871, p. 29 ; Stoliczka, J. A. S. B. xli, 



pt, ii, p. 239 ; Hutne, S. F. i, p. 187, iii, p. 476 ; id. Cat. no. 491 bis ; 



Barnes j Birds Bom. p. 204. 

 Saxicola chrysopygia (De Fit.), Blanf. # Dresser, P. Z. S. 1874, 



p. 230 ; Blanf. East. Pers. ii, p. 161, pi. x, fig. 1 ; Hume, S. F. 



vii, p. 57 ; Seebohm, Cat. B. M. v, p. 389. 



Coloration. Sexes alike. Forehead, crown, nape, back, and sca- 

 pulars brown ; rump and upper tail-coverts pale chestnut ; tail 

 brighter chestnut, the terminal half of the middle pair of feathers 

 and a band at the tip of the others black ; lesser, median, and 

 primary coverts and winglet brown, edged with grey; greater 

 coverts and quills brown, edged with rufous ; lores dark brown ; 

 ear-coverts rich hair-brown ; a supercilium greyish white ; chin, 

 throat, and breast white tinged with ashy; remainder of lower 

 plumage pale brown with a vinaceous tinge, and turning to buff 

 on the vent and under tail-coverts; axillaries and under wing- 

 coverts greyish white. 



Legs, feet, and bill black; iris dark brown (G. King). 



Length about 6-5 ; tail 2*5 ; wing 3'8 ; tarsus 1-05 ; bill from 

 gape '85. 



Distribution. Apparently a winter visitor to the plains of 

 North-western India, being found in the Punjab west of the 

 Jhelum river, Sind, Cutch, Northern Guzerat, and Rajputana as 

 far east as Jodhpur. This species extends to the west as far as 

 Persia, where it is certainly found in the summer. 



Genus CERCOMELA, Bonap., 1856. 



The genus Cercomela contains one Indian species, the position 

 of which is somewhat doubtful. The only young bird I have been 

 able to examine resembles the adult, but, on the other hand, the 



