229. S axicola castor. Hartlaub’s Grey Wheat-ear.
In this species the second primary is not emarginate, and it
belongs to the same group as the two foregoing, as it has the rump
white, but it is entirely cinereous underneath, in which respect it
rather resembles 8. jpollux.
It was procured at Colesberg by Mr. Ortlepp. Messrs. Blanford
and Dresser also give Eland’s Post as a locality, but on examining
Mr. T. C. Atmore’s specimen in the British Museum we believe it
to be referable to some other species, and the authors mentioned
also appear to have changed their mind, as the name has been
erased, and our original determination of its being 8. monticola is
restored : it is therefore' doubtless by an accident that the locality
has remained standing in their paper. They describe the species as
follows:—
Adult male.—Upper parts dark ashy grey; rump and upper tail-
coverts white; wing and four central rectrices dusky black; outer
rectrices white at the base with a black tip, which is much broader
in the fourth from the outside than in the others; underparts very
little paler than the back, fading a little on the abdomen; axillaries
and under wing-coverts of the same colour as the breast. Oulmen,
0‘9.; wing, 4-3 ; tail, 3-05; tarsus, 1‘3.
Fig. Blanf. and Dresser, P. Z. S. 1874, pi. xxxviii. fig. 2.
230. S axicola pol lux. Sickle-winged Grey Wheat-ear.
A very striking species, easily distinguishable by its emarginated
second primary, as in 8. sinuata, and by its uniform upper surface,
the absence of the white rump being a remarkable characteristic.
It was first procured by Mr. W. Atmore at Traka, and afterwards at
Colesberg by Mr. Ortlepp. Messrs. Blanford and Dresser record
specimens from Beaufort.
General colour brownish-grey; chin, flanks, belly, and sides of
rump whitish; vent white; primary quill's brown, secondaries the
same edged with whitish; tail-feathers nearly black, the outer webs
of all, except the four centre feathers, more or less white; eyelids
white; bill and. legs black. The female resembles the male.
Length, i f 3 '" ; wing, 4 " ; tail, 2" 9"'.
Fig, Blanf. and Dresser, P. Z. S. 1874, pi. xxxviii. fig. 1.
y. Back in the males blacic; wing-coverts white.*
N.B.—It is with regard to the species comprised in this section
of the genus that we find ourselves at issue with the authors of the
valuable paper to which we have "been so much indebted in the
course of the.preceding pages, but in stating our views it must be
admitted that the changes of plumage are so little understood that
it is quite possible that our conclusions will require future modification.
We propose, however, the following arrangement:—
a. with the tail entirely black . . i"arno^ ^
( shelleyi
(3. with white in the tail.
a . belly white . . . . 1 (monticola.
( leucomelcena.
j3' . belly black . . . . anderssoni.
231. S axicola a r n o t t i. Amott’s Wheat-ear.
This large and beautiful new species of Chat was sent to us from
the new country called Albania, by our friend, Mr. D. Arnott, in
whose honour the species has been named by Canon Tristram.
Professor Barboza du Bocage has also identified as belonging to
this species a Chat procured by Anchieta at Caconda in Benguela,
and this identification is probably correct, as the British Museum
has a specimen collected in Benguela by Mr. Monteiro. Nothing is
known as yet of its habits.
General colour throughout black; wing-coverts white, as is also a
stripe extending from the nostrils over each eye to the side of the
head, and a few confused spots on the hinder part of the crown.
Total length, 7'2 inches; wing, 3-9; tail, 3. We do not consider
the typical specimen of 8. arnotti to be in full plumage as regards
its head; the male when adult has probably a pure white crown.
Mr. Monteiro’s bird has the crown entirely black, with a white line
in front of the eye.
Fig. Tristram, Ibis, 1869, pi. vi.
* Several ornithologists h a v in g d e scribed th e s e Chats as h av in g w h ite
shoulders, it sh o u ld b e p o in ted o u t th a t th e should e r-p atch is formed b y th e
■white wing-coverts ; th e scapulars, which a re th e true shoulders, axe black, only
a few of th em ex te rn ally wh ite.