122. 



BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



Desert Wbeatear, 



THE Desert Wheatear (Saxicola deserti, Temminck) is a 

 rare autumn migrant to the British Islands. During sum- 

 mer it occurs in Algeria, Egypt, Arabia, and Palestine, and 

 in winter it ranges through Abyssinia to North-West India. 

 The adult male in summer has the general colour of the 

 upper parts buff, changing into white on rump and upper 

 tail-coverts; tail, black, with white bases; superciliary 

 stripe, whitish ; cheeks, throat, and sides of neck, black ; 

 wings, blackish- brown, with pale tips; under parts, white, 

 with a tinge of sandy-rufous on chest and flanks; irides, 

 dark brown; bill, legs, and feet, black. Length, from 

 five to six inches. In this species the feet are very small. 

 The adult female in summer has no black on the throat. 



