175 



have in my collection a specimen from Ortakeuy, obtained there many years ago by the late 

 Mr. Bobson. Nordmann (Demidoff's Voy. dans la Euss. Merid. iii. p. 198) records a Pied 

 Flycatcher, which I believe to be the present species, as being " common on the shores of the 

 Black Sea"; and Menetries says (Cat. rais. p. 29) that he saw M. collaris in the ruins at Baku, a 

 somewhat curious place for a Pied Flycatcher ; but if he did see a Pied Flycatcher there, I believe 

 that it was the present species and not M. collaris. From Dr. Badde's remarks on M. atricapilla, 

 in his ' Oruis Caucasica,' I felt sure that it was the present species about which he was writing, 

 and I therefore wrote and asked him to send me a specimen ; and he at once forwarded one, 

 which proved that my surmise was correct. 



Mr. E. F. von Homeyer was the first who observed that the Pied Flycatcher of the Caucasus 

 differed from our European bird, and gave (I. c.) an excellent description and figure of it. He 

 examined six specimens from the Caucasus, sent to him by Dr. Eadde, all of which agreed 

 inter se. Dr. Eadde says (I. c.) : — " I did not meet with it at so great an altitude (7000 feet) as 

 Mr. Blanford. At Achalzich, at the foot of the Schambobel, I observed it in light brush-wood 

 at an altitude of about 4000 feet. It breeds in the neighbourhood of Tiflis in the lower Aragwa 

 Valley, and the male is often seen perched on the Paliurus bushes. On the 23rd March we 

 observed the first arrivals at Lenkoran; but the main migration was not until the 13th to the 

 17th April in the coast-region, and but few Swallows, Martins, and Flycatchers survived near 

 Lenkoran then. On the 16th numbers were caught by hand. The males of this species also 

 migrate first, and not together with the females." Messrs. Eadde and Walter do not appear to 

 have observed it in Transcaspia ; but Mr. Nazaroff states that a Pied Flycatcher nests in the 

 forest-region of the Kirghis Steppes ; and Mr. Zarudny (Eech. Zool. Transcasp. p. 58) says that 

 he obtained a female Pied Flycatcher near Douchak on the 9th of May, and that it nests in the 

 wooded valley of Kelte-Tschinar, both of which notes I believe to refer to the present species. 



From an examination of specimens in the British Museum I am enabled to say that the 

 Pied Flycatcher of Persia is referable to the present form, and not to M. atricapilla or M. collaris. 

 De Filippi states that he obtained M. collaris in gardens at Tabriz ; but, as I am informed by 

 Count Salvadori, there is no specimen of a Pied Flycatcher in his collection at Turin, and the 

 bird referred to was doubtless the present species. Mr. Blanford obtained three specimens, all 

 in immature dress, in the Karij Valley, Elburz Mountains, where, he says, it abounded in the 

 valleys of the Elburz, but he never met with it in Southern Persia. 



As the characteristic differences in the present species are shown better in the above table 

 than they would be in an illustration, I have not deemed it necessary to give a Plate of it. 



The adult male above described is in my own collection, and I am indebted to Professor 

 Menzbier, of Moscow, for the loan of the nestling. 



In the preparation of the above article I have examined the following specimens : — 



E Mus. H. E. Dresser, 

 o, $ ad. Ortakeuy /.Turkey, April 6th, 1865 (Robson). b, $. Lenkoran, March 30th, 1879 (Dr. G. Radde). 



2B 



