PETROCINCLA SAXATILIS.
Rock-Thrush.
Lanius infaustas, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 310.
Turdus saxatilis, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 833.
Saxícola montana, Koch, Baier. Zool., tom. i. p. 185.
Montícola saxatilis, Boie, Isis, 1822, p. 552.
Petrocincla saxatilis, Vig. Zool. Joum., vol. ii. p. 396.
Petrocossyphus saxatilis, Boie, Isis, 1826, p. 972.
----------------- Goureyi, Brehm, Vög. Deutschl., p. 370.
— polyghttus, Brehm, Vög. Deutschl., p. 370.
Petrocichla saxatilis, Keys, und Bias. Wirbelth. Eur., p. 50.
Sylvia saxatilis, Savi, Ora. Tosc., tom. i. p. 219.
A m e r e glance at the accompanying Plate will be sufficient to show that the bird it represents does not
strictly pertain to our avifauna; yet it is included in all the recent lists o f our native birds. That it has a claim
to a place therein, rests upon the capture o f the one or two specimens recorded in the Supplement to Yarrell’s
‘ H istory of British Birds,’ all the other accounts of its being shot not bearing the test o f investigation, however
positive the assertions made respecting them. This may appear a very sweeping remark; but, in my
opinion, it is mainly t ru e ; and the following account, extracted from Mr. Yarrell’s work above referred to, gives,
I believe, the only instances o f the occurrence o f the bird in our islands to be depended upou.
“ A beautiful specimen of the Rock-Thrush was obtained, on the 19lh of May, 1843, by Mr. Joseph
Trigg, who shot it at Therfield, near Royston, in Hertfordshire, while it was sitting on an ash-tree, on
the evening of the day mentioned. I saw the specimen before it was skinned for preservation by Mr. John
Norman, of Royston, and received the first notice of the occurrence from my friend Thomas Wrotham, Esq.,
whose influence with Mr. Trigg obtained me the loan of the bird for my use in this work; and I beg to return
my best thanks to all the parties for the opportunity thus afforded me of figuring and describing the first
example of the Rock-Thrush that has been known to occur in this country. I have very recently heard of
another specimen having been shot by a gamekeeper, who, unaware of the interest attached to the bird, saved
only the head and neck, which being shown to a gentleman conversant with ornithology, the species, from
its peculiar colouring, was identified without difficulty.” The first specimen above mentioned has since passed
from the possession of Mr. Trigg into that of J . H. Gurney, Esq.
If the Rock-Thrush has but slender claims to a place in our avifauna, we need only cross the Channel
to find ourselves in a country of which it is strictly a native; for in certain parts of France, particularly
those of a rocky or alpine character, it is very plentiful. I t is, in fact, a bird of the hills, a tenant of
the Alps, the Apennines, and the numerous spurs jutting out from those great ranges ; it is also a common
denizen of many parts of Spain, Italy, and the T y ro l; but in all parts of Europe it is strictly a migrant, coming
and going with the seasons, like our own Ring-Ousel. I t winters in the Atlas and other mountain-ranges of
Northern Africa, and is to be found in every district of that country of a similar character. Many o f the skins
o f the bird on sale in Paris are made in Tangiers, and others in Algiers, Tunis, and Egypt. The specimens
from Tangiers are shorter in the body, and, moreover, have shorter bills, than those from the Nile; these differences
however, can only be regarded as local variations, for in colouring and markings the Nile and Morocco
birds are very similar.
Mr. Wright, who has given us a List of the Birds observed by him in Malta and Gozo, states that it arrives
there about the middle of March, generally in pairs, and may be seen till May, and that it reappears in
September, on its voyage southward.
The Rev. H. B. Tristram, in his remarks “ On the Ornithology of Palestine,” says:— “ Petrocincla saxatilis,
whose red tail and Redstart-like habits link it most closely with the Ruticillince, is, in most parts of Palestine,
merely a passing traveller, and tarries but a night. On the 8th o f April the whole of Mount Gerizim
was covered by a restless flock of these birds, which, at a distance, we took for Black Redstarts, so exactly
did they resemble that bird in their actions. They bopped restlessly from rock to rock, never taking a flight
o f more than a few yards ; and in this fashion, in loose order, ranging for perhaps a mile in breadth, they
appeared to be steadily proceeding northwards. When the foremost line had reached the valley, they took
a flight across to the foot of Mount Ebal, over the gardens, and then more leisurely mounted the hill. Afterwards
we occasionally met with this bird in the Upper Lebanon, in the month of June, where, no doubt, it
was breeding.”