56 Lieut. R. G. Wardlaw-Ramsay’s 
a white spot on the outside of the wing, just at the tips of the 
wing-coverts. 
The colouring of the head in S. morio and S. leucomela 
cannot be taken as a guide. I have specimens of Saxicola 
morio, shot in April and May (when they commenced to 
breed in the Hariab valley), with the head almost brown, 
white washed with brown, and pure white. The plumage of 
the body varies with that of the head ; for the bird with the 
white head has the upper surface and throat rich black, and, 
again, those with the heads brown or brownish have the back 
in a corresponding degree brown or black mottled with brown. 
These latter birds were adult, although they had not assumed. 
the full black-and-white plumage; for they were breeding in 
May and June. 
Two females shot on the 9th May I feel sure belong to 
this species, inasmuch as they were in company with males 
of S. morio. 
The only one which I was able to preserve was of a uniform 
clear earthy brown on the head, wings, and back, the rump 
and upper tail-coverts being white as in the male. The tail 
is also as in the male, except that the black is replaced 
by brown. Beneath the throat black as in the male, but 
each feather margined with pale russet, giving it a mottled 
appearance. The breast and lower parts are buffy white, the 
former having a decided tinge of russet, somewhat in the 
form of a pectoral band. 
The head, which only is visible, of the female in Mr. Gould’s 
plate of Dromolea picata (B. of Asia, pt. xvii.) is evidently 
taken from a female S. morio. 
I may mention that day after day, whilst out road-making, 
I have watched pairs of these birds, and invariably there was 
one black and one brown bird. 
The nest is very difficult to find; and I have sat sometimes 
for half an hour or more, hoping that the birds would give 
some indication of its whereabouts. ‘The only nest secured 
contained but one egg, of a pale unspotted blue, otherwise 
like a large Stonechat’s (Praiincola maura) egg. The nest 
was placed under a collection of small rocks piled up by the 
