233 



only occasionally seen. He has, however, parted with his specimens ; and I am therefore 

 unable to state with any degree of certainty which of the two species, the present one or 

 S. morio, is the one he refers to, but have little doubt that the one which he found common 

 is 8. leucomela ; and he informs me that he also found it common near Suez, on the Bea Sea. 

 Captain Shelley also states that it is very common and resident in Egypt, and one of the 

 commonest species found there during the winter. Mr. Blanford says that " it appears to 

 replace S. deserti in the highlands of Abyssinia. It was seen only in the temperate region, 

 where it abounded till the middle of March, after which it disappeared." In North-western 

 Africa the present species alone occurs, and appears to be common. Mr. Taczanowski (J. f. O. 

 1870, p. 47) found it numerous in the southern portions of the Atlas range and the desert, 

 where it sings throughout the winter; and Canon Tristram writes (Ibis, 1859, p. 300), it is 

 " less confined to the bushy portions of the desert, and does not appear to come so far north 

 even as the M'zab country. It dwells in the boundless deserts of the Touareg, south of the 

 furthest French imaginary line. It was only here and in the Chamba country, south-west of 

 Waregla, in lat. 30° 50', that I obtained specimens. It is very shy, and possesses great powers 

 of flight;" and Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun. (Ibis, 1871, p. 80), writes "it is only on the dreary 

 route between Gardaia and Berryan, where there is scarcely a particle of herbage to harbour 

 insects, that I observed this bird, except in one instance, when I shot a specimen at Mellika ; 

 and it would seem that, unlike its congeners, Dromolcea leucopygia and D. leucocephala, it but 

 rarely enters oases. On the Berryan route many pairs were seen, mingled, though not actually 

 consorting, with a few S. deserti." 



To the eastward the present species certainly occurs in Persia, whence I have specimens 

 collected by Mr. Blanford and Major St. John ; and De Filippi records it from Tehran. In 

 India, so far as I can ascertain, its close ally S. morio alone occurs. 



In its habits the present species is said to differ but little from other allied Chats ; and 

 Canon Tristram informs me that he has taken its eggs, which in colour closely resemble those 

 of Saxicola erythrcea, but differ somewhat in size. A nest he took in Palestine, near the Dead 

 Sea, containing young, was placed in the stone wall of a barley-field. 



The specimens figured on the foreground of the same Plate with Saxicola morio are an 

 adult male obtained in Egypt, and a nestling from Astrachan, both being the specimens described, 

 and are in my collection. 



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



E Mus. H. E. Dresser. 



a, b, $ . Egypt (Rogers and E. C. Taylor), c. Assouan, Upper Egypt, January 31st, 1863 (/. H. Cochrane), 

 d, <S . Marsaba, Palestine, January 15th, 1864 (H. B. Tristram) . e, pidlus. Astrachan (Moschler) . 



E Mies. Lord Walden. 



a, 3 . Shore of Dead Sea, January 20th, 1864 (H. B. Tristram). 



B 



