248 



the nestling of S. leucopygia it is easily distinguishable by having the tail entirely black, except at the 

 tip, and by lacking the conspicuous white on the lower part of the abdomen and under tail-coverts ; and 

 it is in general much duller in colour than that bird. 



The Black Chat inhabits Southern Europe and North-western Africa, being in India replaced by 

 a smaller but tolerably closely allied species, Saxicola o^istholenca. It is included in Professor 

 Barboza du Bocage's list of birds occurring in Portugal ; but he does not state if it is common or 

 not. In Spain it is common in suitable localities; Lord Lilford obtained it near Aranjuez ; and 

 Major Irby informs me that " it is migratory in the vicinity of Gibraltar, arriving early in March ; 

 some few pairs are resident on the Rock ; and there is no increase to their numbers in the spring. 

 Often they nest in clefts of the rocks so deep as to be quite safe from man." Mr. Howard 

 Saunders writes (Ibis, 1871, p. 211) that in Southern Spain it is " abundant in rocky places, 

 arriving earlier than the S. aurita and 8. stajiazina, and breeding in April. Its eggs, of the 

 palest blue or sea-green, distinctly zoned with reddish spots, are, when fresh, the most beautiful 

 of the family." Dr. Brehm, whose notes on the breeding-habits of this bird are given below, 

 refers to it as a resident species in Spain, where it inhabits the desolate mountains, and affects 

 those where the rocks are dark in colour and assimilate to its sombre plumage. 



Jaubert and Barthelemy-Lapommeraye record it from the south of France ; and Dr. von 

 Midler (J. f. O. 1856, p. 225) writes that it "inhabits the rocky mountains of Provence along 

 the coast, is found here all the year round, but is more numerous in March and April by the 

 accession of new arrivals." It occurs in Italy, but is not so common there as in Spain. Savi 

 observed it near Genoa, but has not obtained it in Tuscany; and, according to Count Salvadori, 

 it is in general rather rare and local in Italy. This latter gentleman writes (J. f. O. 1865, p. 135) 

 that there are three specimens in the University Museum, obtained in Sardinia, and that during 

 his residence at Cagliari a specimen was caught on the rocky hill of S. Avendrace, near that 

 town, where it is common, and he thinks that it breeds there. Cara also records it as not 

 uncommon in Sardinia. Professor Doderlein states that it is rare in the immediate neighbour- 

 hood of Palermo, but is common in the arid and mountainous portions of Sicily, arriving in 

 spring, nesting, and departing in autumn. Both Von der Miihle and Lindermayer record it as 

 very rare and exceedingly shy in Greece, the former only succeeding in obtaining one specimen 

 after infinite trouble, and the latter states that Erhardt met with it on the islands. Professor 

 von Nordmann states that he obtained a bird of this species in the Crimea ; and Canon Tristram 

 speaks with doubt (Ibis, 1859, p. 59) of having seen it near Bethlehem ; but I think it scarcely 

 probable that either gentleman really refers to the present species, but possibly to S. leucopi/qa, 

 or to one of the other black-and-white Chats. In North-eastern Africa the present species is 

 replaced by S. leucopyga ; but it occurs in Algeria, where, according to Loche, it " is never found 

 on the coast, though common in the mountainous districts, especially on the borders of the 

 desert." Mr. O. Salvin found it most numerous in the district of Djendeli; and Canon Tristram 

 writes (Ibis, 1859, p. 296) that " wherever there are savage ravines, bare cliffs reflecting a burning 

 glare on the hungry valley, rent chasms fearful in the unspeakable stillness which pervades the 

 transparent atmosphere around, gorges which strike the intruder with awe, as though life, 

 vegetable or animal, had never dared to intrude there before, even here may a pair of Ilock- 



