398 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXVIII. 
103. Rock Thrush. Monticola saxatilis. 
Monticola saxatilis, L. (Syst. Nat. Ed. 12, p. 294, 1766—Helvetia). 
A passage migrant, not common; noted by Tomlinson at Basra on March 
30th ; in April at Samarra and Gurmat Ali on April 29th by Logan Home. 
Armstrong found it common at Fao on April 28th and Buxton got a single 
one at Amara on May 12th. It would appear to be commoner at Fao than 
elsewhere as Cumming notes it passing through in March and April; Zarudny 
records it as a winter visitor and passage migrant. We have no records in 
winter. 
104. Blue Rock Thrush. Monticola solitarius. 
Monticola solitarius transcaspicus, Hart. (Bull B. O. C., 23, p. 43, 
January 1909—Tedjen, Transcaspia). 
Naturally a scarce bird, probably it is more or less resident in the hills, wan- 
dering to the plains in small numbers in winter, as in other parts. Logan Home 
saw it in the cliffs at Tekrit, and Aldworth says it breeds there. Cheesman got 
a male at Mosul on December 12th. Zarudny says it breeds in the Karun 
district, doubtless in hilly parts round Ahwaz and Bund-i-kir where Woosnam 
got it on March 5th. 
This is a paler form with rather a shorter wing than the European bird. 
I am in doubt as to which race the Mosul bird belongs but as Hartert says he 
has seen this race from Fao I leave it provisionally under this name. Blue 
Rock Thrushes from Mesopotamia, especially breeding birds, are desiderata. 
105. Common Wheatear. A=nanthe zenanthe. 
Ainanthe cenanthe enanthe, L. (Syst. Nat. Ed., x, p. 186, 1758— 
Sweden). 
The Common Wheatear is mostly a passage migrant through Mesopotamia. 
The first arrive about the second week in March and from the end of March on- 
wards to mid-April it is plentiful while it is not until about the middle of May 
that all have passed on again. The return passage commences about mid- 
August and this species is again plentiful during September and well on into 
October. It appears that a few, here and there, remain during the winter. 
Pitman records it from Samarra during the winter months as does Logan Home 
at Tekrit ; Pitman also noted a few at Kut, Kurna and Sheik Saad in January, 
etc. 
Twenty-eight specimens were obtained all in March and April, and September 
and October except the following: Suleimania, 15-11-19 (Ross); Shat-al-Adhaim, 
3-11-17 : Bait-al-Khalifa, 11-1-18 ; Kut, 10-1-18 (C. R. P.). 
I refer all these for the present to the typical race ; besides these I have exa 
mined a good many others from the east and I can see amongst them ones 
with longer bills (rostrata, H. and E.) and ones with paler mantles (argentea, 
Lonnb). In this latter form the pale mantle is not always associated, as Lonnberg 
says, with a broader white forehead ; in the case of rostrata so many specimens 
are intermediate in size of bill between this and the typical race that it is im- 
possible to draw a line, the intergradation is too great. Until one can see a good 
series of these two supposed races from their breeding grounds, it seems best 
not to recognize them as distinct. What however is noticeable about these 
Mesopotamian specimens is that they tend to run longer on the whole in length 
of wing :—Fourteen males measure 97-100°5, once 102 mm.; some western 
European birds run up to 100 mm., but among these Mesopotamian males there 
are none of wing length of 94-96 mm. such as often is found among the former. 
The great majority of our specimens are no paler on the mantle than the typical 
race. The bills measure 17 to 19 mm. mostly 18 mm. 
