MENETRIES' WHEATEAR. 137 



found it in tlie Dcxnakil country, between tlie Peninsula 

 of Buri and tlie Gulf of Tadjura, on the Somali coast, 

 and in Southern Arabia. 



There is nothing to add about the habits of this 

 bird, which Mr. Tristram says are precisely similar to 

 those of the Common Wheatear. 



Head, nape, and back down to the rump, and wing- 

 coverts, a mixture of buff with olivaceous green; rump 

 and basal half of tail pure Avhite. Wings brown, the 

 primaries after the fourth lightly, and the secondaries 

 more deeply bordered with the same colour as the back, 

 but brighter, the same tint as the fringe being shewn 

 where the colour of the back passes into the white of 

 the rump. As usual in all the Wheatears I have de- 

 scribed, the two middle tail feathers are black after the 

 first third from base. Throat, neck, and lower part of 

 abdomen, dirty white; the chest and upper part of the 

 abdomen, under wing and tail coverts, light buff. 



The colours above described of the feathers of the 

 body, are produced by tints at the extremities of the 

 feathers only. The real colour of all the feathers below 

 the surface is black, like that of Leucomela, a point well 

 worthy of attention in looking at the affinities of these 

 birds, and estimating how far their variations in colour 

 may be owing to climatic causes and mode of living. 



The feathers covering the ears are a darker buff, 

 with a light line extending over them from the angle 

 of the eye. Feet black, the hinder claw more strongly 

 curved than the anterior ones; beak horn-coloured. 



I am indebted for the bird from which my drawing is 

 taken, as well as those of bird and e^^ of the last species, 

 to the kindness of the Rev, IT. B. Tristram. My figure 

 of the bird is from a male specimen, killed in Egypt, 

 February 5th,, 1852. 



