BLACK-EABED WEE ATE AB. 103 



"The favourite resort of the Eared Wheatear/' says Mr. Salvin, 

 ("Ibis," vol. i., page 307,) "is among stony ground at the foot of 

 the hills; and in such places it may be looked for and generally 

 found. Roman ruins also are much frequented. We obtained two 

 nests from the Madracen, where they were placed in the interstices 

 of the stone of that building. Usually the nests were close by or 

 under a large fragment of rock." 



Like stapazina, the Eared Wheatear builds its nest among rocks 

 and stones near the ground. The nest is deep and wide, and not 

 made with much care. It is formed of dry grasses, wool, hair, etc., 

 in which is deposited five or six eggs, of a greenish blue, generally 

 deeper coloured than those of stapazina, and with the spots thicker, 

 and more coloured with brown or rust red. 



Salvadori ("Fauna d' Italia") remarks of this bird: — "This species 

 mingles with the Wheatear, but in much fewer numbers, and in many 

 parts of Italy it is unknown. In the Campagna Romana, at the time 

 of the passage, it is abundant, and then one will be found in the 

 markets at Rome to every four or five Wheatears. It certainly nests 

 on the mountains of Liguria, but probably in other places as well. 

 The nest resembles that of the Wheatear. The eggs, five or six in 

 number, are of a sky blue green, with brown or russet red spots. 

 This species is said by some to be the same as the monacliella of 

 Savi, and by others not to be separated from stapazina. This error 

 was caused by the inexact observations of Bonelli, La Marmora, and 

 Calvi. It is now known to be quite distinct." 



I extract the following from Mr. Savile Reid's "Gibraltar Notes:" — 

 "May 25th., 1873. Only one pair of ^S*. aurita were seen, every 

 attempt to find the nest proving futile. The two species {stapazina 

 and aurita^ are exactly alike in their habits and in their notes. The 

 alarm-note is like that of the Stonechat." "June 14th. We saw a 

 male aurita, whose motions clearly indicated the presence of a nest, 

 but we could not find it. I want to find a nest very much, to 

 compare eggs and nest with those of its X)eTy near relative S. stapazina^ 



I have four eggs in my collection, from Moeschler, which were 

 taken in Spain. They are smaller than my specimens of stapazina. 

 Mr. Dresser, quoting Major Irby in his account of this bird, says in 

 cork woods, which Major Irby says is a mistake, and an obvious 

 impossibility. Mr. Dresser either misread the note for some other 

 species, or hastily wrote "in" for "near." 



The male in breeding plumage has the head, nape, and back of a 

 light buif. Rump, throat, and two thirds of tail below, white; abdo- 

 men and under tail coverts, creamy white^ more or less shaded with 



