326 THE BIRDS OF GILGIT. 



It may be distinguished from S. isabellina by the wings 

 and tip of tail being black, not brown, the dark tippings of 

 the side-feathers of the tail being much narrower, and by the 

 conspicuous broad black stripe on the side of the head from 

 the lores through the eye to the ear-coverts, and in summer 

 by the blue grey tone of the back. 



81.— Saxicola hendersoni, Hume* (492 bis). 



This species was not noticed the first year ; but in the second 

 year a number appeared in September, chiefly young birds, and 

 a few adults among them. Messrs. Blanford and Dresser, in 

 their Monograph of the Saxicolinse, and the latter also in the 

 " Birds of Europe," suppress this species, and place the name 

 as a synonym of S. melanoleuca. The reasons for this are not 

 given ; and the colouration of the base of the feathers on the 

 back seems to be utterly incompatible with the assumption of 

 a white back in summer ; so that this decision could not be 

 accepted, even in the absence of specimens in full breeding 

 plumage. But Mr. Hume has recently pointed out that three 



wing, with the third and fourth primaries, nearly equal and longest; second primary 

 sometimes as long as the fourth ; bastard primary 075 to - 65 inch. Length of wing, 

 42 to 3 5 inches (females, 37 to 345) ; tail, 245 to 20 ; culmen, 0*7 to 062 ; tarsus, 

 1-2 to 1'05. 



" Adult female in breeding plumage. — General .colour of the upper parts dull 

 brown ; forehead and eye-stripe bullish white, much narrower than in the male; lores 

 and upper parts of ear-coverts brown ; wings and wing- coverts not so dark as in 

 the male ; rump and upper tail-coverts white ; tail as in the male, but the dark parts 

 not quite so dark ; under parts as in the male. After the autumn moult both sexes 

 have a buffish brown margin to every feather, so that they are scarcely distinguish- 

 able, and resemble the adult female in breeding plumage, except that the quills and 

 tail feathers are margined with buffish brown at the tip, and the innermost secondaries 

 and wing-coverts are similarly margined, not only at the tip but along the outside 

 webs. The under parts are also darker in colour. It is not known that birds of the 

 year differ from adult." 



There is no reason really to believe that either Jerdon or any one else has ever as yet 

 procured this species anywhere in the plains of India ; but having been obtained in 

 Gilgit, it is highly probable that sooner or later stragglers will occur there.— 

 A. O. H.] 



* This is the same as S morio, No. 77 of this list. Mr. Hume's original descrip- 

 tion and figure of 8. hendersoni admirably represent the winter plumage of 8. morio, 

 Hempr. & Ehr.— J. S. 



[This, i.e. my S. hendersoni, is certainly not the same as No. 77 of this list. It may 

 be the same as the true morio of H. and E., but it is not the same as the morio of this 

 list, which has the inner webs of the quills black (vide sup.) while in heidersoni they 

 are a pale grey brown. Dr. Scully overlooked the fact that No. 77 of this list 

 is apparently morio apud Blanford and Dresser ; and this, according to Seebohm, is 

 capistrata of Gould, and not the true morio of Hempr. and Ehr. 



"What Dr. Scully should have said is, that 8. hendersoni, Hume, is, according to 



Seebohm, identical with morio, H. & E. apud Seebohm. But the whole thing is doubt- 



/ ful, because Seebohm claims to have the types of S. hendersoni in the British museum 



I whereas they are in my museum. Dr. Henderson had a great number of Stonechats, 



and I have no certainty that the birds he gave the B. Museum were really identical 



with the types. 



In winter plumage a good many of the species are difficult to separate, and Mr. 

 Seebohm has never seen hendersoni in full breeding plumage ; but I have, and I can 

 only say that if as I gather the true morio is the same as the bird we have hitherto called 

 leucomela, Pall., then in my judgment S. hendersoni is not identical with morio. The 

 points of difference are clearly pointed out, S. F., II., bottom of p. 526.— A. O. H.] 



