THE BIRDS OF MONGOLIA ETC. 183 



74. Saxicola (ENANTHE, L. Checcau poputcMck, 



Occasionally we met with the Wheatear in S.E. MongoHa, Ala-shan, and 

 Halha. In the two former localities it appeared to be rather scarce. It 

 breeds in the mountain-valleys; and the first spring migrants arrived at 

 Muni-ul about the 9th of April. We did not find it in Kan-su. 



75. Saxicola morio, Ehrenb. 



This Chat, so closely allied to S. leucomela, is commoner than the 

 preceding species in S.E. Mongolia and Ala-shan, but is scarce in Kan-su 

 and Halha. In the spring of 1871 we observed the first migrants on the 

 25th of March, at Dalai-nor ; and in the following year we noticed them in 

 the Shara-had mountains on the 13th of the same month. They breed in the 

 mountain-valleys ; and the young leave their nests about the middle of June. 

 In S.E. Mongolia and in the vicinity of Dadjin we saw the young ones flying 

 about on the 29th of May. Measurements of a male — length 6", width 10"-5, 

 wing 3''-8, tail 2''-63, culmen 0'^-51, tarsus O^'SS. 



76. Saxicola atrogularis, Blyth. Checcan chernogorloy. 



Saxicola atrogulariSy Gould^ Birds of Asia^ part xvii. pi. 



We noticed this Chat in Ordos, Ala-shan, and Halha, but did not find 

 it in Mongolia and Kan-su. It inhabits the most desolate parts of the desert, 

 and usually localities where sacsaulnics grow in abundance. It breeds 

 often in the walls of wells; and we found a nest in such a place, but 

 could not get at it. In the deserts it appears to replace the two preceding 

 species, from which it differs little in its habits. We did not observe it 

 in China proper, and therefore concluded that the Ordos forms its eastern 

 boundary and the bend of the Hoang-ho or the Hurha mountains its northern 

 limit. 



