THE INDIAN STONECHAT. 457 



blue butterfly (imagines) and E. L. Turner small lizards. Seeds 

 also occasionally taken. 



DISTRIBUTION. British Isles. Resident, widely distributed, but 

 local and uncertain, often abandoning a locality after a few years. 

 Most numerous in coastal regions. Very local in midland plain of 

 England, in Pennines, and in south-west Scotland, but more common 

 northwards and eastwards in Scotland. Breeds sparingly 0. Hebrides, 

 rarely Orkneys, and only very rare visitor to Shetlands, but to Fair 

 Isle regular in spring and rare in autumn. 



MIGRATIONS. British Isles. Though partly resident as a species, 

 there is considerable evidence that individuals seen at other seasons 

 in most areas are not those that breed there in summer. In many 

 districts, especially inland, it is only a summer -resident. South- 

 ward movements throughout country and concentration in neigh- 

 bourhood of south coast begin second week Aug. and emigration 

 a week or two later continuing at intervals to beginning Nov. 

 Irish summer -residents emigrate, at any rate partly, Oct. and 

 early Nov. Evidence of passage-movements, probably of Scottish 

 breeding-birds down west coast (western isles to Solway) and 

 east coast (eastern Orkneys to Kent) second week Sept. to third 

 week Oct. Weather-movements in all parts may occur later. 

 Return immigration south coast and passage northwards inland 

 mid-Feb. to second week April ; summer-residents in northernmost 

 areas travel to some extent by coastal routes, we tern (Scillies 

 to western isles) mid-Feb. to first week May and east and north 

 coasts Ireland mid-Feb. to first week April, eastern (Kent to eastern 

 Orkneys and Fair Isle) end Feb. to fourth week May. Fair Isle 

 birds may belong to Continental race 8. t. rubicola (L.) but their 

 destination is unknown. 



DISTRIBUTION. Abroad. Breeding bird of Portugal is not separable 

 from British form. 



188. Saxicola torquata indica (Blyth) THE INDIAN 

 STONECHAT. 



PRATOTCOLA INDICA Blyth, Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, xvi, p. 129 (1847 



India). 



Pratincola maura (nee Pallas), Saunders, Brit. B., i, p. 7. 



DESCRIPTION. Adult male. Winter. Like that of S. t. hibernans 

 but upper -parts with longer and paler brown tips to feathers than 

 in either 8. t. hibernans or 8. t. rubicola ; feathers of rump and 

 upper tail-coverts white with rufous-buff tips ; under -parts rather 

 paler than in 8. t. rubicola ; under wing-coverts and axillaries with 

 narrower white tips ; tail-feathers with rather less than basal 

 quarter white (S. t. maura has tail-feathers nearly half white) ; 

 edgings of outer webs of wing-feathers paler and of inner webs 



