294 Mr. T, Ayres on the Ornithology of Transvaal. 
Mr. Sharpe has kindly examined these fonr specimens, all 
of which he considers to be referable to B. leucomelcsna ; but 
assuming this identification to be correct^ I confess to feeling 
very doubtful as to whether B. leucomelcena and B. monticola 
are not_, in reality^ one and the same species. 
I also observe that the white on the wing of all these spe¬ 
cimens^ except in the fourth (which is apparently a younger 
bird), is disposed in a manner exceedingly similar to the white 
coverts and adjacent small white spot in the wing of the Ash- 
backed Wheatear, for which I proposed the specific name 
tephronota in ^ The Ibis ^ for 1877, p. 843, and that this 
is also a bird of very similar dimensions. I think it not un¬ 
likely that B. tephronota may ultimately prove to be merely a 
grey phase of the same species.—J. H. G.] 
Budytes flava (Linn.). Grey-headed Yellow Wagtail. 
Male, shot 3rd January. 
Budytes rayi. Bon. Ray^s Wagtail, 
Male and female, shot 3rd January. 
294. Monticola brevipes, Waterh. Short-footed Bock- 
Thrush. 
Male and female, shot near Potchefstroom, in the month 
of August, by my brother, Mr, John Ayres. 
[The sexes of this pair of birds appear to have been ascer¬ 
tained by Mr. John Ayres, having been marked by him on 
the tickets attached to them. The measurements of the 
two skins are as under :— 
Culmen. 
Wing. 
Tail. 
Tarsus. 
Middle 
toe, s. u. 
in. 
in. 
in. 
in. 
in. 
cT .. 
•75 
4-4 
2-5 
1 
•8 
$ .. 
•75 
41 
2-3 
1 
•8 
The female specimen appears to be somewhat the older bird 
of the two, and agrees with the description of the male given 
in ^ Contributions to Ornithology ’ for 1852, p. 147, but has 
the middle pair of rectrices blackish brown with ferruginous 
bases, the latter colour extending further on the sides of the 
feather than in the centre; the other feathers of the tail 
