THE WHEATEARS. 
297 
Adult Male. — General colour above bright sandy-rufous, over- 
shaded with ashy margins to the feathers, the lower back and 
rump brighter sandy-rufous, the lower rump and upper tail 
coverts creamy-white, washed with sandy-rufous ; scapulars like 
the back ; wing-coverts black, the inner, median, and greater 
coverts white or sandy-white, forming a large wing-patch , rest 
of the wing black, the inner secondaries edged with sand) - 
brown ; tail-feathers entirely black, with a white base for about 
one-third the length of the feather ; head like the back, 01 a 
trifle greyer, with a white line across the base of the forehead 
extending back over the eye and forming an eyebrow; lores 
and feathers above the eye, sides of face and ear-coverts, and 
throat black ; remainder of under surface of body sandy-rufous,, 
as also the sides of the body ; the centre of the breast, abdomen, 
and under tail-coverts whiter ; axillanes black, tipped with white ; 
under wing-coverts white ; quills dusky below, white along the 
inner web ; edge of wing black ; bill black ; feet and claws 
black ; iris deep brown. Total length, 6 inches ; culrnen, o'6 
wing, 3'6 ; tail, 2‘5 ; tarsus, ro 5 * 
Adult Female.— Differs from the male in wanting the black on 
the face and throat ; the whole upper surface sandy-brown , 
the upper tail-coverts sandy-rufous ; tail as in the male , wings 
not black, but brown, the feathers edged with sandy-rufous; lotes- 
whitish ; ear-coverts light rufous ; cheeks and entire under sur- 
face of body pale sandy-rufous, inclining to isabelline on the 
abdomen and under tail-coverts ; under wing coverts and axil 
laries white, with dusky bases ; quills ashy-brow'n below, white 
along the inner edge. Total length, 57 inches ; wing, 3 5. 
N 0TE —The male of the Desert Wheatear is very distinct, but the 
female might be confounded with the hen of some of the allied species. 
It may be well to mention, therefore, that it can be distinguished from the 
females of S. xnanthe and S. stapazina by its blacker tail, the basal third 
of which only is white. 
Range in Great Britain.— Obtained on two occasions : once near 
Alloa, in Scotland, on the 26th of November, 1880, and a 
second near Holderness, on the 17 th October, 1885 1 he 
former was exhibited before the Zoologica Society by Mr. J. J. 
Dalgleish, and the second by Mr. W. Eagle Clarke. 
Range outside the British Islands.— The Desert Chat is an African 
