64 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 



in. On Saxicola deserti (EiljJj')-), the Desert Chat, and its 

 Appearance for the first time in Great Britain. By 

 John J. Dalgleish, Esq. 



(Read 19th January 1881.) 



The desert chat or wheatear is a native, as its name sig- 

 nifies, of dry, arid, and sandy regions. Mr Gould admits 

 three species, all founded upon this one, viz., S. deserti, 

 S. alhogularis (Blyth), and S. montana (Gould) ; but Mr A. 0. 

 Hume has, in Stray Feathers,^ the Indian ornithological jour- 

 nal, I think, clearly shown that in this he has been in error, 

 and that the two latter represent the species in mid- winter, 

 and breeding plumage respectively, and the former the 

 autumn or spring plumage. It has not previously been re- 

 corded as having visited these islands, nor, so far as I can 

 ascertain, has it ever occurred on the continent of Europe. 

 On the island of Heligoland, however, which is yearly becom- 

 ing more interesting to the ornithologist, from the number of 

 rare visitants to its shores during the periodical migrations, 

 it has been obtained on two occasions by Herr H. Gatke, 

 the well-known resident ornithologist, as recorded by Mr See- 

 bohm in the lUs for 1877, p. 162. The first of these, a female 

 in autumn plumage, was captured on 4th October 1855, and 

 the other, a male, also in autumn garb, on 26th October of 

 the following year. 



Although thus almost unknown north of the Mediterranean, 

 or, I may say, of the Atlas Mountains, the desert chat has 

 nevertheless a most extensive range, stretching in an almost 

 unbroken line, where the country is suitable to its habits, from 

 the Algerian Sahara to the warm plains of Central India. 

 Canon Tristram, and other recent travellers in Algeria, have 

 found it all across the Sahara, and in the southern portions 

 of the Atlas Mountains, where it seems chiefly to inhabit 

 sandy salt plains, destitute of bushes. It is common in Egypt 

 and Abyssinia. In the latter country Mr Blanford found it 

 on the coast, near Annesley Bay, in the winter, from which dis- 

 trict it seems to migrate in February. Von Heuglin mentions 

 * Vol. i., p. 188. 1873. 



