12 



Genus MONTICOLA. 



Turdus apud Linnseus, Syst. Nat. i. p. 294 (1766). 



Lanius apud Gmelin, Syst. Nat. i. p. 310 (1788). 



Saxicola apud Koch, Baier. Zool. p. 185 (1816). 



Monticola, Boie, Isis, 1822, p. 552. 



Petrocincla apud Vigors, Zool. Journ. ii. p. 396 (1826). 



Petrocossyphus apud Boie, Isis, 1826, p. 972. 



Sylvia apud Savi, Orn. Tosc. i. p. 218 (1827). 



Petrocichla apud Keyserling & Blasius, Wirbelth. Eur. p. 175 (1840). 



By many authors the Rock-Thrushes have not been separated from the true Thrushes ; but 

 inasmuch as in their habits, general style of coloration, and to some extent also in form they 

 differ from the Thrushes, and are as it were a connecting link between them and the Chats, it 

 appears only right that they should be kept apart. I thought at first that the Blue Thrushes 

 could fairly be kept generically distinct from the Rock-Thrushes, and proposed, therefore, to use 

 the generic name of Petrocossyphus for them ; but further investigation convinces me that it is 

 not advisable to separate them. The present genus inhabits the Palsearctic, Ethiopian, and 

 Oriental Regions ; but only two species are found within the limits of the Western Palaearctic 

 Region. The Rock-Thrushes inhabit dry rocky localities ; and one species at least exhibits a 

 great partiality for old ruins. They are solitary in their habits, and do not migrate in company 

 with others of their own species. They are good songsters, like the true Thrushes, but are much 

 more insectivorous than these, and procure their food almost entirely on the ground or amongst 

 rocks and ruins. 



They place their nests, which are tolerably well constructed and cup-shaped, in the clefts of 

 rocks, or in holes in old ruins, or even, in some cases, in buildings which are close to inhabited 

 houses, and deposit pale greenish-blue eggs which are, as a rule, uniform in colour ; but occa- 

 sionally one finds eggs which are faintly dotted with pale rufous. 



Monticola saxatilis, the type of this genus, has the bill stout, straight, rather broad at the 

 base, the ridge curved towards the point ; nostrils basal, round, partly covered with minute 

 hairs ; bristles on the gape scarcely visible ; first quill very minute, the second and third nearly 

 equal, the latter being the longest ; feet stout ; tarsus with one long anterior plate and four 

 inferior scutelk-e ; tail short, nearly even or slightly rounded. 



The other species found in the Western Palaearctic Region is Monticola cyanus, which I 

 have in error called Petrocossyphus cyanus. 



