202 



4 



bush ; I shot it, and it proved to be the female, which had evidently been sitting. Eight days 

 later I saw the male fly off the nest, which contained nearly fledged young. It was in the 

 entrance to a mole-hole, well concealed amongst the herbage. I uttered a low hissing sound ; 

 and a young bird came out, but, on seeing me, immediately bolted back. . . . During the breeding- 

 season it frequents the plains, which remain year after year uncultivated. Its song during the 

 breeding-season is powerful, and rich in tone ; it is usually uttered from a branch of a bnsh, 

 or a telegraph-wire, or whilst the bird is fluttering in the air. Sometimes it whistles like a 

 shepherd or a Sandpiper. The young remain together in families, frequenting the dry ditches 

 or bushes near them ; and during the heat of the day and at night they retire to deserted Jackal- 

 holes, where also, doubtless, the old birds often breed." 



I do not possess the nest of this Chat, which Herr von Henglin describes as being " tolerably 

 bulky, and lined with soft dried grasses ;" but I have eggs from Astrachan, and from near Smyrna, 

 the latter taken by Dr. Kriiper. These closely resemble the eggs of Saxicola mianthe, but 

 appear, judging from the series of each in my collection, to be, as a rule, a trifle stoutei\ In 

 size they measure from f-§ by fjj to f^ by f§ inch. 



As the sexes of this Chat are so nearly alike, I have deemed it best to figure an adult female 

 in spring plumage, together with a nestling, both being the specimens described and in my 

 collection. 



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



E Mus. II. E. Dresser. 



a. '. Egypt, February 17th, 1863 (S. S. Allen), b. Egypt {Rogers), c. Grhizeh, Egypt, March 14th, 1863 

 S. S. Allen), d. Palestine, June 15th, 1864 {Tristram), e, 2- Smyrna, Asia Minor, May 30th, 1871. 

 f,g,juv. Smyrna, Asia Minor, May 24th, 1871. h,juv, Smyrna, Asia Minor, June 1st, 1864. i, k, 

 l,juv. Smyrna, Asia Minor, .May :25th, 1871 [Dr. Kriiper). in, d . Central Asia {Severtzoff). n, d . 

 Burtna, India, January 19th (If. E. Brooks), o, 2 . Lahore, India (Marshall), p, d . " Etawah, India, 

 December 18th, 186!) (//'. E. Brooks). 



E Mas. Lid. ('ale. 



, b, 2 ■ Gwadar, Baluchistan, December 1871. c, 2 • Pahara, Baluchistan, April 1st. d, §. Shiraz, June 

 1869. e, d. Shiraz, September 1870. /, ?. S.E. Persia, April 20th, 1872 (IV. T. Stanford). 



E Mus. Lord Walden. 



. Zoulla, Abyssinia (Win. Jesse), b, d. Chemkent, March 11th, 1866 (Severtzoff). c, 2 , d, $ , e, 2- 

 North-west India. f, 2 • Umballab, India, October 1866. tj, 6 . Umballah, India, November 1866 

 (Beavari). h, 2 ■ llasheiya, Palestine, June 1st, 1864 (H. B. Tristram). i,k. R. Lahore, India (Marshall). 



E Mus. II. B. Tristram. 



a, 2- Mt. Tabor, Palestine, March 10th, 1864 (H. B. T.). b, J. Mt. Hermon, Palestine, June 4th, 1864 

 (H. B. T). c. Fort of Hermon, Palestine, June 2nd, 1864 (H. B. T.). d, tf . Beersheba, Palestine, 

 February 3rd, 1864 (H.B.T.). e, $. Jordan, Palestine, January 6th, 1804 (H. B. T.). f, d, Egypt, 

 February 5th, 1852 (H. B. T). g, d. Burtna, N.W. India, January 28th, 1869 (Brooks), h. Etawah, 

 N.W. India, November 1869 (Brooks). 



