282 
allen’s naturalist’s library. 
the whit whit of the Chaffinch. As he improves in voice he 
} ou der and longer, until at last he almost approaches the 
^ 'ghtingale m the richness of the melody which he pours forth, 
sometimes he will sing as he flies upwards, descending with ex- 
panded wings and tail to alight on thehighest bough of some low 
tree, almost exactly as the Tree-Pipit does in the meadows of 
our own land. When the females have arrived, there comes at 
the end of his song the most metallic notes I have ever heard 
a Jird utter. It is a sort of ting-ting, resembling the sound 
produced by striking a suspended bar of steel with another 
piece of the same metal. The female appears to shun the 
open far more carefully than her mate ; and while he will be 
peiched on a topmost spray, gladdening the whole air around 
\\ith his tuneful melody, she will remain in the undergrowth 
beneath him, gliding hither and thither, more like a mouse 
than a bird, through the branches.” 
West. According to Mr. Seebohm, not unlike that of a 
Robin, the hole being well filled with dry grass and roots,. and 
at the far end a neat, deep cup lined with fine roots and hair. 
Rven when the bird has been frightened off, and the place of 
the nest assured, it is still difficult to find, so well is it con- 
cealed. 
Eggs. —Resemble those of the Nightingale, especially the 
type of the latter where the ground-colour is bluish-green. 
The spots are reddish, and either cloud the whole of the egg 
or are collected at the larger end. Some, on the other hand, 
are almost uniform olive-brown. Axis, 07-0-8 inch; diam ’ 
0-55-0-6. 
THE ROCIC-THRUSHES. GENUS MONTICOLA. 
Monticola, Boie, Isis, 1833, p. 552. 
Type, M. saxa/i/is (Linn.). 
1 hough possessing a bill and general appearance like the 
1 brushes, there is the character of the bright colours of the 
male and the remarkable difference in the colour of the sexes, 
which separate the genus Monticola from the true Turdida. 
1 hey seem to connect the Chats and the Thrushes, the red 
tail being a feature which suggests an alliance with the Red- 
starts. 
