57 [Vol. xxxvii. 



instead of being divided by white as in normal examples of 

 the Black-throated Chat. Under the name Saxicola gaddi 

 Sarudny and Loudon liad described (Orn. Jahrb. 1904, 

 p. 219) a Black-eare(i Wheatear from Western Persia, in 

 which the black of the ear-coverts extended down the neck 

 to the shoulder. 



In agreement with Dr. Hartert and others, Mr, Witherby 

 considered the Black-eared and Black-throated Wheatears 

 as dimorphisms of the same species. He submitted that 

 this view was considerably strengthened by the fact that 

 certain individuals of both the black-eared and black-throated 

 forms — at all events, in part of their range — had the above- 

 described extension of black to the shoulder. As was well 

 known, not only were the Black-throated and Black-eared 

 Wheatears alike in habits and range, but the characters 

 differentiating the eastern and western subspecies were the 

 same in each. Those who still considered the Black-eared 

 and Black-throated Wheatears distinct species must, he 

 thought, now admit as two further species ^^ Saxicola gaddi" 

 and the black-throated birds he exhibited, since they could 

 not be considered as subspecies, as they inhabited part of the 

 same region as typical 6E. h. melanoleuca. 



He himself considered them as a third variety of (Enanthe 

 hispanica melanoleuca. 



The Chairman said that further proof of the specific 

 identity was the fact that in CEnanthe lugens the female 

 sometimes in old age put on a black throat like the male, 

 and also that the Algerian race of our common (Enanthe 

 oenanthe, viz. Seebohm's Wheatear (CE. as. seebohmi) always 

 had a black throat in the male. 



Mr. C. G. Lambert exhibited a Song- Thrush's nest con- 

 taining five eggs of the Thrush and one of the Cuckoo, 

 taken at Book ham in Surrey. 



Dr. Hartert remarked on the striking increase this year 

 in the number of Lesser Whitethroats in the neighbourhood 

 of Tring. 



