BLUE THBII8H. 59 



very difficult to find. I once was shewn one built on the Cratcegus 

 pyracantha, ox, as it is commonly called, 'Moses in the Burning Bush.' 

 The nest was built simply of grass, and the young were brought up, 

 tamed, and sold in Turkey." 



Salvadori ("Fauna d'ltalia") writes: — "The ^ Passer a ^oUtaria^ is 

 stationary in the central and southern parts of Italy, migratory in 

 the northern parts. It inhabits rocky mountains, but occasionally it 

 establishes itself upon towers and other old edifices in villages and 

 cities. When I was young it was rather common in the ancient 

 city of Spello, near Fuligno, in Umbria, where it frequented the 

 roofs of the houses, 'always resting upon the ledges of the roofs or 

 on the summits of the chimneys. It sang with a rather melodious 

 voice, especially in the morning hours, and was kept frequently in 

 cages by reason of its beautiful voice. It nests in the cavities of 

 projecting rocks, in inaccessible places, and also in the holes of walls. 

 The nest is generally closely entertwined with roots, stalks, leaves, 

 and horse-hair. The eggs, in number from five to six, are of a 

 greenish azure colour, without spots. It appears that it not unfre- 

 quently breeds with P. saxatilis, and upon one of the hybrids thus 

 produced has been founded T. azureus, Lebrun, in Crespon's 'Fauna 

 Meridionale,' p. 179. Another hybrid, which was quite azure, except 

 the belly, which was a bright fulvous, is preserved in the Turin 

 Museum, and was killed near Tunis by the Marquis Orazio Antinori." 



Of this bird in North-east Africa, Von Heuglin remarks: "The 

 Blue Thrush is a bird of passage in the autumn and spring in Egypt, 

 Nubia, Abyssinia, and Arabia; but not so frequent as the Rock 

 Thrush; perhaps also not going so far towards the south. Young birds 

 I met with more frequently than old ones. It may possibly breed 

 sometimes in the north of our field of observation. It shows itself 

 more on solitary palm-trees and acacias, while the Rock Thrush chooses 

 rocks, ruins, and walls, and the desert land for its residence, but is 

 known to visit the roofs of country-houses and of mosques. Both 

 species live a somewhat isolated life, and seem to possess no sociable 

 disposition. It breeds in Algeria, Loche; in Palestine, Tristr.; as well 

 as in Asia Minor, Kriiper; India; in the South of Europe." 



In plumage the male and female dififer considerably. The adult 

 male has the whole of the upper surface of a deep greyish blue, many 

 of the feathers margined with grey. Wings and tail black, with the 

 wing coverts clear, and the tail quills bordered with obscure blue. 

 The under parts light blue, with obscure narrow bars of brown edged 

 with white on the chest and abdomen; beak and tarsi black. 



The adult female has the whole upper parts bluish brown, with the 



