80 TURDIDjE. 



habits and colour of the egg of this species ally it to the jSaxico- 

 lince. It is probable that the position of Cercomela is among the 

 Brachypterygince. 



The Kock-Chat seems to have the habits of Saxicola, frequenting 

 stony tracts of land and breeding in holes of rocks and old build- 

 ings. The sexes are alike, the plumage is very dull, and there is 

 little or no seasonal change of plumage. 



In Cercomela the bill and rictal bristles resemble those of 

 Saccicola ; the wing is blunt and the first primary is about half the 

 length of the second ; the tail is entirely of one colour and much 

 shorter than the wing, and the tarsus is short. 



Cercomela melanura (Temm.) occurs in Palestine, Arabia, and 

 North-east Africa, and has been met with at Aden. This species 

 was included among the birds of India by Jerdon, on the authority 

 of Blyth, who identified it by a drawing in the possession of Sir A. 

 Burnes. The bird, from which the drawing was taken, is stated to 

 have been killed in Sind. I do not propose to include this species 

 in my list, as I do not consider its occurrence in India sufficiently 

 well authenticated. The general colour of the plumage is grey, 

 paler beneath, and the tail and upper tail-coverts are black ; tail 

 2-3; wing 3-1. 



629. Cercomela fusca. The Brown Rock-Chat. 



Saxicola fusca, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xx, p. 523 (1851) ; id. Cat. p. xi. 

 Cercomela fusca (Blyth), Jerd. B. I. ii, p. 134; StoUczka, J. A. S. B. 



xli, pt. ii, p. 240 ; Hume, N. $ E. p. 319 ; Adam, S. F. i, p. 380 ; 



Butler, 8. F. iii, p. 477 ; Hume, Cat. no. 494 ; Barnes, Birds Bom. 



p. 200 ; Gates in Hume's N. # E. 2nd ed. ii, p. 54. 

 Myrmecocichla fusca (Blyth), Seebohm, Cat. B. M. v, p. 360. 



Shama, Cent. Prov. 



Coloration. Upper plumage dull rufous-brown, the feathers of 

 the upper tail-coverts darker ; wings brown, every feather edged 

 with rufous-brown ; sides of the head and lower plumage dull fer- 

 ruginous ; tail very dark brown. 



Legs and feet black; bill black; iris dark brown (Hume). 



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

 gape *85. 



Distribution. A resident in a considerable portion of the central 

 parts of the Indian peninsula. The western limits of this species 

 appear to be a line drawn from Cutch through Jodhpur to 

 Hardwar. Thence it extends to Chunar, near Benares, on the 

 east, and to Jubbulpur on the south, and I have not been able to 

 trace its distribution more accurately than this. 



Habits, &[c. Breeds from March to July, constructing a nest of 

 grass and roots, lined with hair and wool, in holes of walls, 

 quarries, banks, and cliffs, and laying three or four eggs, which are 

 blue marked with rufous, and measure about -82 by -62. 



