398 
Mr. A. L. Butler on Birds observed 
30th, and another in the Khor Arbat on May 3rd, were all 
the examples that I saw of this common winter-visitor. 
33. Saxicola melanoleuca (Giild.). 
Saxicola melanoleuca Occident alls Salv. 
a. $ . Khor Arbat, 6. 5. 08. 
b. c?. „ 7.5.08. 
c. ?. „ 13.5.08. 
The birds obtained at Khor Arbat belong to the western 
form of the Black-throated Chat, with a markedly smaller 
black gorget than in S. melanoleuca (Giild.), the eastern bird, 
which is the form commonly met with in the Sudan from 
autumn to spring. I only met with the three examples shot, 
and unfortunately both the female specimens were destroyed 
by a cat when drying. I compared the male with both forms 
at the Natural History Museum, and Mr. M. J. Nicoll, 
whom I asked to examine it, also attributes it to the 
western subspecies. 
A Black-throated Chat shot at Khartoum on April 4th, 
1908, also appears to me to be S. m. occidentalis. In both 
this and the Khor Arbat bird, besides the smaller amount 
of black on the throat, the wings measure 87 mm. against 
89 mm. in several specimens of S. m. melanoleuca. In both 
the testes were much enlarged, which was not the case in 
specimens of S. m. melanoleuca shot in April. 
34. Saxicola leucopygia Brehm. 
a-o. S S • Khor Arbat and Jebel Bawati, May 2nd to 16th. 
'p—r. $ ? . „ „ ,, 
Of the fifteen males collected seven have the cap pure 
white, two have the cap white except for a single black 
feather, in four the cap is mixed black and white, in one the 
head is entirely black, and in another (the only breeding 
male) there is only a single white feather on the crown. 
Of the three females two (one of which had large eggs in 
the ovary) have the cap pure white, and the third has the 
head entirely black. This handsome Chat is very abundant 
on the hills along the Bed Sea coast, and its jetty black and 
snowy white plumage make a pleasing contrast to the sombre 
