296 BRITISH BIRDS. 



THE EASTERN PIED WHEATEAR (Saxicola pleschanka 



(Lepech.)) IN SCOTLAND. 



A new British Bird. 



On October 19th, 1909, while the Misses Evelyn V. Baxter 

 and Leonora Jeffrey Rintoul were engaged in migration work 

 on the Isle of May in the Firth of Forth, they noticed a 

 Wheatear, which appeared "considerably darker than S. 

 cenanthe, looked smaller and seemed to show less white patch 

 on the rump when it flew ; it was restless and rather wild," 

 but was eventually secured. Mr. W. Eagle Clarke and Dr. E. 

 Hartert have identified the bird, which is a female, as the 

 EasternPied Wheatear, Saxicola pleschanka (Lepech. ) =8. morio. 

 Hemp, and Ehr. The wind was in the west at the time and 

 had been blowing previously lightly from the east, and there 

 was not much movement of birds in progress. 



The above details of this most interesting discovery are 

 condensed from an article by the discoverers in the " Annals 

 of Scottish Nat. Hist." (1910, pp. 2-4), where a nice coloured 

 figure of the bird by Miss L. Medland is also given. 



The range of the Eastern Pied Wheatear is given by Mr. 

 Dresser (Man. Pal. Birds, p. 32) as Cyprus, and from the 

 Crimea and lower valley of the Volga east to Kashmir, south- 

 eastern Siberia, Tibet, Mongolia, and northern China, win- 

 tering in N.W. India, Abyssinia and Arabia, and occasionally 

 in Gilgit. It has also occurred in Italy and Heligoland. The 

 bird occurring in Cyprus is, however, decidedly a distinct 

 form (8. pleschanka cypriaca, Horn.), and possibly in other 

 parts of its range distinct forms may be recognised, as a series 

 of specimens reveals much difference in plumage other than 

 seasonal, although Dr., Hartert, we are told (Ann. 8.N.H., 

 1910, p. 3), considers the white-throated form (S. vittata, 

 Hemp, and Ehr.), to which the specimen in question belongs, 

 to be merely a variety of 8. pleschanka. 



The Misses Rintoul and Baxter thus describe their capture, 

 which is a female : — 



" It is 5.7 inches in length, wing 3.6 inches. Head dull greyish- 

 brown with faint indications of darker streaks ; eye-streak buffish- 

 white ; ear-coverts brownish-black, much streaked with greyish-brown ; 

 mantle black, each feather broadly margined with greyish-brown, 

 lighter at the tips ; rump and upper tail-coverts white ; central pair of 

 tail feathers black with basal third white, remaining tail-feathers white 

 broadly tipped with black, the outer ones more so than the inner ; 

 primaries, secondaries, and wing-coverts blackish-brown with narrow 

 pale brown margins ; sides of the neck white tinged with buff ; throat 

 and centre of abdomen white ; chest warm buff ; flanks and under tail- 

 coverts pale buff ; axillaries black ; under wing-coverts black, with 

 paler edges ; eyes, bill, feet, and toes black." 



