860 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXVII. 



in Qazvin from the middle of July till the end of October, and never saw M. a. 

 dukhunensis until 7th September after which it became fairly common. 31. a. 

 persica is more easly distinguished in the field than as a skin. My notes state 

 definitely that at Qazvin it was commoner than the other race in mid-winter, 

 but as I have no skin to support this I suppose we cannot regard it as a definite 

 record. It appeared to be easily distinguished in the field by the much greater 

 extent of black on the sides of the neck even in winter. Cheesman's specimen 

 shot on the road between Tehran and Qazvin on 18th June is marked " fris 

 dark brown, bUl and legs black, organs advanced, evidently breeding " ; and 

 at Qazvin this form was certainly not uncommon, generally in family parties, 

 from the middle of July until the end of September. My only specimen was shot 

 on 1st September. 



Sitta europcea rubiginosa, Tschusi and Zarudny. — Nuthatch, 

 l^. near Menjil — 27th March. 



I never saw the Nuthatch in the low forest round Resht Enzeli, but as soon 

 as one mounts the lowest slopes of the hill it becomes quite common, and is 

 often seen up to about 6,000 ft. which is the approximate height of the tree- 

 level. It is found particularly in the mixed forest in which the Persian Oak 

 is the predominant tree. Woosnam's specimens from Mazandaran and Gilan 

 belong to this race. Witherby referred them to >S. e. ccesia (1910), no doubt 

 because the original description of rubiginosa fails to point out the salient 

 features of the race. Buturlin (1916) points out that S. e. rubiginosa differs 

 from the other races of the species in not having white spots on the outer tail 

 feathers, in the dark colour of the upper side, and in the very dark chestnut 

 colour of the flanks ; he gives other and in mj' opinion less reliable characters 

 by which this sub-species may be distinguished. The bill of my male measures 

 18, the wing 80 mm. 



Sitta rupicola rupicola, Blanford. — Rock Nuthatch. 



1 $. Menjil— 23rd March. 



2 immat. Tehran — 14th June. 



Sitta neumayer obscura, Zarudny. 



1 c? , 1 5 . Menjil— 12th October. 



Sitta n. dresseri, Buturlin {Sitta -syriaca tschitscherini, Auctt., notZar.) 

 1°. Qasr-i-Shirin— 22nd May (R. E. C). 



One of the most interesting results of our collecting is the re-discovery of Blan- 

 ford's Sitta rupicola. This is a small species of Rock Nuthatch, and it inhabits 

 the same ground as the larger S. neumayer sub-species in at any rate many parts 

 of Persia. In the N. of Persia the small one is represented by the form S. r. 

 rupicola, the larger by S. n. obscura and these two are mainly distinguishable 

 by size. In S. W. Persia they are replaced by two forms similar to one another 

 but differing entirely from all other Rock Nuthatches in the extremely pale 

 colour, the smaller being S. r. tschitscherini, the larger S. n. dresseri (-RTongly 

 referred to as tschitscherini by British authors). Very little is known of the 

 small species and ornithologists in Persia should lose no opportunity of studying 

 this bird and obtaining specimens of it ; its nesting habits are, I believe, entirely 

 imknown. Major Cheesman was able to say that there are differences in the 

 notes of the two ; we want also to learn whether they are often found on the 

 same piece of ground, as we know is sometimes the case ; and what type of 

 ground they affect if it is found that they do not generally live together. I 

 have recently discussed certain technical points about the Rock Nuthatches 

 of Persia (1920 b). Cheesman's specimen of S. n. dresseri is interesting as it is 

 proof of the occurrence of yet another characteristicalty S. W. Persian bird in 

 the country between the frontier and Kermanshah. 



