28. 



RUTICILLA MESOLEUCA. 



(EHRENBERG'S REDSTART.) 



Sylvia mesoleuca, Ehr. Symb. Phys. Aves, fol. ee (1829). 

 Ruticilla mesoleuca (Ehr.), Sclater & Taylor, Ibis, 1876, p. 64. 



Figura nulla. 



S_ ad. R. phamicuro similis, sed corpore supra saturatiore, gula magis nigra, corpore subtiis ferrugineo-auran- 

 tiaco, abdomine centrali albo notato : alis saturatioribus, secundariis extiis a basi fere ad apicem albis : 

 rostro et pedibus nigris, iride fusca. 



2 ad. R. phamicuro similis, sed supra grisescentior, fronte et capitis lateribus griseo-albidis, his sordide cinereo 

 tinctis : corpore subtiis pallidiore, pectore vix griseo-aurantiaco tincto. 



Adult Male (Taurus, 5th April) . Differs from the male of the common Redstart in having the upper parts, 

 more especially the head, much darker, the white on the forehead more extended, the black on the 

 throat more intense ; and the entire underparts below the throat are rich orange-red, the centre of the 

 abdomen alone being marked with white ; the wings are darker and greyer, while the secondaries have 

 almost the whole of the outer web, from the base nearly to the tip, pure white, forming a very con- 

 spicuous white alar patch; bill and legs black; iris brown. Total length about 6 inches, culmen - 5, 

 wing 3T, tail 2 - 45, tarsus - 82. 



Adult Female (Taurus, 8th April). Differs from the female of Ruticilla phcenicurus in having the upper parts 

 greyer, the forehead and sides of the head dirty greyish white, the latter tinged with brownish ash ; 

 underparts much greyer and more sooty than in R. phcenicurus, the breast only tinged with dull greyish 

 orange. 



Obs. There is, comparatively speaking, but little variation in the specimens I have examined ; but the 

 amount of white on the wing in the male varies somewhat, and in some specimens the back is very 

 dark, and marked with black. 



Until quite lately the information on record respecting the present species was exceedingly 

 scanty, scarcely any thing being known about it. It was first discovered by Messrs. Hemprich 

 and Ehrenberg, who obtained a single example near Djedda; and when, in company with 

 Mr. Blanford, I examined this bird in the Berlin Museum in 1 873, we believed it to be unique. 

 Mr. Seebohm, who visited Constantinople in 1872, informed me on his return that he had seen 

 in the possession of Mr. Robson a male of the present species, which Mr. Robson had shot near 

 that town. He also found a specimen in the collection of Dr. Kriiper, which had been shot near 

 Smyrna on the 21st March, 1872, and which he purchased and brought to me for examination. 

 In 1873 Mr. Seebohm visited Athens, and in the Museum of that town he found another speci- 

 men, which Mr. Schrader informed him was shot near that town. Dr. Sclater, who in 1875 

 examined a second specimen (obtained near Constantinople, and now in the American collec- 



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