Lord Lilford informs us that in May, 1857, it was common “ among the Acroceraunian mountains,” where 
he “ found its nests among the debris carried down by the melting of the snows on Ischika, one of the highest 
points of that range.” He also “ once or twice observed it in the island of Corfu, where it is highly prized as 
a singing bird.” 
When speaking of the birds observed round Pisa in 1864, Dr. Henry Giglioli says : — “ In April the two 
Rock- Thrushes make their appearance ; and the Petrocincla saxatilis may then be seen perched on the 
detached masses of limestone which adorn the flanks of the Monte Pisano.” 
“ The Rock- Thrush,” says Bailly, in his ‘ Ornithologie de la Savoie,’ “ is not uncommon in the summer 
among the rocks and the more stony parts of onr Alpine regions ; it is also found on the lower rocks, on 
hillocks on the plains, and on hills such as those of Charmettes, from the former habitation of J. J. Rousseau, 
to the confines of Montagnole, situations naturally of a rocky character, and which border tbe lake of 
Bourget, in the proximity of the Abbey of Hautecombe. The rocks which coast the principal route 
of Mont-du-Chat, as well as the quarries of Lemenc, near Chamberv, are also regularly frequented by 
a few pairs, wbicb remain and breed. The males, nearly always, arrive alone from the 12th to the 20th of 
April, according as the spring may be early or late. The females, which also arrive alone, seldom appear 
until four, five, or six days later. They then pair. The males on the very day they arrive survey the 
district and its neighbourhood, apparently for convenient sites for the purpose. When in repose, and 
especially in the morning, they are to be seen on tbe tops of rocks or isolated stones, and sometimes on tbe 
top of a tree, whence they commence a song, which resembles at intervals that of the Blue Thrush, and in 
the flexibility, softness, and variety of its notes that of the Orpheus Warbler and the Blackcap. They 
often rise perpendicularly iu the air, and descend again, with wings extended and still singing, to the spot 
whence they rose. Sometimes they flutter along the rocks in a series of undulations, all the while uttering 
their song ; but they never sing with so much grace and cheerfulness as when they again see their females ; 
they immediately mount in the air for a considerable distance, descend again, nearly vertically, and ponr 
forth, with volubility, all the harmony their voice is capable of expressing. As soon as paired, tbe male 
and female hasten to seek, in the clefts and holes of the rocks, in ruins situated on some high point, in stony 
declivities interspersed with shrubs, and more rarely in tbe holes of abandoned logs, a suitable site for 
the construction of the nest, which being found, they immediately commence transporting the necessary 
materials, consisting of small roots, moss, and straw, for the formation of the exterior, and fine herbs, tbe 
fibres of plants, and soft roots to line tbe interior. The female lays four or five eggs, of a bluish green ; 
sometimes they are without spots, at others they are almost imperceptibly spotted with brown at the 
larger end. If the parents, when bringing food to tbeir young, perceive an intruder, they wait on the top 
of a rock or shrub till he is gone ; indeed they appear never to go direct to the nest, but descend at some 
distance from it, and run along the paths or rocks until an opportunity offers of feeding their young in 
safety and secrecy. The adults migrate about the end of August, and the young about the 8th of 
September.” 
From tbe localities above mentioned, the range of the Rock-Thrush would seem to extend as far north 
as Heligoland, since examples have been killed in that Island. 
Considerable difference occurs in tbe colouring of the sexes, and a certain amount of variation In that of 
the males — those that are newly moulted having the feathers of the breast and undersurface tipped with 
crescents of light grey, which gradually disappear, until the bird assumes a uniform colour. 
The male has the head, neck, and upper part of the back blue grey, passing into brown on the sca- 
pularies ; centre of the back white ; upper tail-coverts dark bluish brown, slightly tipped with greyish white ; 
lesser wing-coverts dark brown, almost black, tipped with white ; greater coverts and remainder of the 
wings brown, the secondaries faintly edged at the tip with white ; breast, and all the under surface light 
chestnut brown, with, in most specimens, a crescent of grey at the tip ; tail deep rusty red, with a wash of 
brown on tbe two central feathers ; bill black ; irides dark hazel ; legs and toes dark reddish brown. 
The female has the whole of the upper surface of a dull brown ; on the lower part of the back an indi- 
cation of the white mark seen in the male ; throat and sides of the throat tawny ; under surface the same 
colour but deeper, each feather bordered with transverse markings of brown at the tip ; tail and other parts 
of the plumage as in the male. 
The Plate represents an adult male, drawn from life, in the Gardens of the Zoological Society, and a 
reduced figure of the female in the distance. The three plants are Rhododendron fernigineum, Saxifraga 
oppositifolia, and a species of Cassida ?, taken from the sketch-book of Mr. Wolf, who made the drawings 
in the Alps. 
