WHINCHAT. 275 



Crete ; Mr. Strickland observed that it was a common 

 bird at Smyrna in winter, and Mr. Blyth lias obtained it 

 in India. 



The male has the beak black ; from the angle of the 

 gape of the beak to the eye a brown streak ; irides brown ; 

 the ear-coverts and a patch under the eye dark brown ; 

 over the lore, the eye, and the ear-coverts, an elongated 

 streak of white : top of the head, neck, back, and smaller 

 wing-coverts, a mixture of pale brown and very dark 

 brown, each feather being dark in the centre, and light 

 at the circumference : greater wing-coverts black ; the 

 spurious wing white : quill-feathers dark brown, the pri- 

 maries reaching nearly to the end of the tail ; the secon- 

 daries and tertials edged with light brown ; tail-fea- 

 thers white at the base, dark brown over the distal half, 

 and edged with pale brown. The chin and a line from 

 thence reaching beyond the lower edge of the end of the 

 ear- coverts, white ; throat and breast delicate fawn-colour, 

 passing into pale buff on the belly and under tail-coverts ; 

 under surface of the distal half of the tail-feathers greyish 

 black. Legs, toes, and claws, black. 



The whole length of the bird rather short of five inches. 

 From the carpal joint to the end of the longest primary, 

 three inches : the first feather very short ; the second 

 equal to the fifth ; the third the longest. 



In the female, the white on the spurious wing is less con- 

 spicuous ; and the colouring of the under surface of the 

 body has less of red and more of yellow in the tint. 



T 2 



