OF THE 



UNIVERSITY 



OF 



NO NT 1C OLA 21 



MONTICOLA, Boie, 1822. 



25. ROCK THRUSH. 

 MONTICOLA SAXATILIS. 



Monticola saxatilis^ (Linn.) Syst. Nat. i. p. 294 (1766) ; (Naumann), ii. p. 

 348, Taf. 73 ; (Hewitson). i. p. 95. pi. xxvi. fig. 2 ; (Gould), B. of 

 E. ii. pi. 86 ; (id.) B. of Gt. Brit. ii. pi. 44 ; Dresser, ii. p. 129, pis. 16, 

 17 ; Seebohm, Cat. B. Br. Mus. v. p. 313 ; Gates, F. Brit. Ind. Birds, 

 ii. p. 147 ; Tacz. F. 0. Sib. O. p. 319 ; Saunders, p. 17 ; Lilford, iii. 

 p. 96, pi. 48. 



Merle de roche, French ; Metro das rockas, Portug. ; Mirlo 

 pintado, Span. ; Codirossone, Ital. ; Steindrossel, German ; 

 Kamennoi-Drozd, Russ. 



< ad. (Greece). Head and neck ashy cobalt blue ; fore part of back 

 and scapulars black ; middle of back white ; rump grey and white ; upper 

 tail-coverts and tail cinnamon, the middle rectrices darker ; wings brown ; 

 under parts rich orange red ; bill black ; legs brown ; iris brown. Culmen 

 0'9, wing 4*7, tail 2'6, tarsus 1*15 inch. The female is brown above with 

 darker markings and tinged with blue ; middle of back mottled with 

 creamy buff ; chin and throat whitish ; rest of under parts buffy white, 

 washed with orange and scalloped with brown. In winter the feathers 

 above have reddish tips, and below white margins. 



Hob. Central and southern Europe ; Asia Minor and Asia 

 north to southern Siberia, east to Dauria, south to China and 

 northern India in winter and on passage ; north Africa on 

 passage and Senegambia and Abyssinia in winter; England 

 (once). 



Frequents rocky and stony localities, old ruins, and gar- 

 dens where there are old walls, and in general habits forms a 

 link between the Thrushes and Chats. Its food consists of 

 worms, beetles, and insects of various kinds and their larvae. Its 

 song is sweet and varied, and it is highly esteemed as a cage- 

 bird. It breeds late in May or early in June, and places its nest, 

 which is loosely constructed of roots and grass-bents, lined with 

 fine rootlets, and occasionally a few hairs and feathers, in the 

 crevice of a rock or amongst stones, and deposits 4 to 5 uniform 

 light blue, or greenish blue eggs, which are sometimes finely 

 dotted with pale rufous, and measure about TO by 0'75. 



