30 



Avere migrating numerously on the plain near Kaaka, and also at Duschak from the 28th March 

 to the 1st April. In 1887 they were numerous on migration in the sand district of Utsh-adshi 

 from the 15th to the 28th March, and at Alt-Merv between the 17th and 30th March. On the 

 5th June, 1886, he found fledged young ones at Germab. 



Mr. Blanford (E. Pers. ii. p. 154) says that he met with this bird commonly in Baluchistan 

 in January and February, and that it breeds throughout the southern highlands of Persia, but he 

 did not himself observe it north of Shiraz. Sir Oliver St. John, however, obtained a specimen in 

 the Elburz Mountains, North Persia. 



Sir Oliver St. John also records it from S. Afghanistan and Kelat (Ibis, 1889, p. 163), where 

 it arrives from India very early in the spring, and commences nidification at once. He obtained 

 it at Kandahar on the 3rd of February, and Col. Swinhoe observed it at Quetta in May. 



Col. Biddulph found it common in Gilgit during the summer. During the winter season, 

 according to Mr. Oates (Faun. Brit. Ind., Birds, ii. p. 71), it visits the plains of the Punjab, Sind, 

 Guzerat, Eajputana, as far east as Deesa and Sambhar, and the North-west Provinces down to 

 Allahabad. At this season it is also found in the low country of Baluchistan and Afghanistan. 



Professor Valentine Ball met with this Chat in the Suliman Hills at a considerable eleva- 

 tion, and found a nest in the rocks at an elevation of 5880 feet. He remarks that they had 

 very much the habits of Copsychus saularis. Towards evening, he says, they used to come about 

 the bungalow, perching on the verandah, and singing with a low twittering note. Occasionallv 

 they would pick up insects off the ground, and sometimes capture them while on the wing. 



I may further add that, according to Dr. Sharpe (Ibis, 1886, p. 164), this Chat was obtained 

 by Col. Miles near Muscat, in Arabia. 



The present species breeds from March to June, placing its nest in rocks, in stone walls, or 

 in the hollow of a tree. Lieut. H. E. Barnes (Nests and Eggs of Ind. Birds, ii. p. 53) describes a 

 nest, which he found in a hole in a tree in March, as being " composed of dry grass lined with 

 feathers, and containing four eggs of a very delicate greenish-blue tint, obsoletely speckled with 

 rusty brown or pale brownish red at the larger end, where the markings form an irregular zone. 

 A few specks of the same colour are scattered over the rest of the surface of the egg. The 

 average of twelve eggs is '81 by - 56." 



The specimens figured are the adult male and female above described, and are in my own 

 collection. 



In the preparation of the above article I have examined, besides the series in the British 

 Museum, the following specimens : — - 



E Mus. H. E. Dresser. 



a, d ad. Gheregirh, January 13th, 1866. b, $ ad. Kohistan, Sind, November 28th, 1875 [W. T. Blanford). 

 c, 2 . Etawah, India (TV. E. Brooks), d, 6 . Neemuch, October 24th, 1884 (H. E. Barnes). 



