AVIS-IBIS - An Avian Information System - Indian BioDiversity Information System

489. :- Jerdon's Birds of India, Vol. II, p. 131; Butler, Guzerat ; Stray Feathers, Vol. III, p. 475 ; Murray's Vertebrate Zoology of Sind, p. 142.

The Pied Stonechat.
 

Length, 6.5; expanse, 11.25 ; wing, 3.75 ; tail, 2.75 ; tarsus, 0.9 ; bill at front, 0.5 ; bill at gape, 0.75.

Bill black ; irides dark-brown ; legs black.

Whole head, neck, and upper breast, back, and wings, black ; the rump, upper tail-coverts, and all the lower parts from the breast white ; tail white, except the terminal two-thirds of the two central feathers, and the tips of the others, which are black.

The Pied Stonechat is a common winter visitant to Sind and Guzerat, but it is much less common at Mhow and Neemuch, and has not been recorded from the Deccan.

I found it breeding in the vicinity of Chaman, South Afghanistan.

Asia, pt. xvii. 1865 ; Seebohm, Cat. B. Br. Mus. vol. v. p. 368; Gray, Handlist B. i. p. 224. Saxicola leucomela (Pall), apud. Blyth, J. A. S. B. xvi. p. 131; apud. Jerd. B. Ind. ii. p. 131, No. 490. Saxicola morio, Hemp, et Ehr. apud. Blanf, and Dresser, P. Z. S. 1874, p. 225 (parlim); apud. Severtz. Str. F. iii. p. 429. -

The Indian Stone Chat.

Adult Male in Breeding Plumage. - Head and nape greyish white, shading into white on the hind neck and eye stripes; lores, chin, throat, ear coverts, sides of neck, scapulars, back, wing coverts, axillaries and under wing coverts black; quills dark brown, slightly paler on the under surface; rump, upper tail coverts, breast, flanks, belly and under tail coverts white, the latter occasionally suffused with buff; tail white, the two central feathers nearly black for the terminal half, and the remainder tipped with nearly black from a quarter to half an inch; bill and legs black ; wings, 3rd, 4th and 5th primaries nearly equal and longest; second, intermediate in length between the 6th and 7 th ; bastard primary 0.9 to 0.7.

Length. - Wing 3.7 to 3.5 inches; tail 2.7 to 2.4; culmen 0.7 to 0.62; tarsus 1.1 to 0.9. Female unknown. - (Seebohm.)

Hab. - North- Western and Central India, and Sind during winter. Breeds in Turkistan and probably Afghanistan also, - (Seebohm, Cat. B. Br. Mus. p. 368.)

The White-headed, Chat.

Saxicola leucomela (Pall,), apud Jerd. B. I. ii, p. 131. Saxicola capistrata, Gould, Birds Asia, iv, pl. 28 (1865); Hume, S. F. iii, p. 475; Seebohm, Cat, B. M. v, p. 368. Saxicola morio (Hempr. & Ehr.), apud Hume, Cat. no. 490; Barnes, Birds Bom. p. 203.

The White-headed Stone-Chat, Jerd.
 

Coloration. Male. After the autumn moult, the forehead, crown, nape, and hind neck are greyish white, somewhat whiter over the eye and ear-coverts; sides of the head, chin, throat, neck all round, back, scapulars, wings, under wing-coverts, and axillaries black; remainder of lower plumage with rump and upper tail-coverts white; tail white, except the terminal half of the middle pair of feathers and a broad band on the tip of the others, which are black. Soon after the autumn moult the tips of the crown-feathers become reduced, and the crown is much whiter than before. When these feathers become still more worn, the crown has a tendency to exhibit patches of black. There is no other seasonal change of plumage.

Female. Resembles the female of S. picata, but the upper plumage is more sandy; the chin, throat, and breast are light fulvous, very little darker than the remainder of the lower plumage.

The young resemble the adult female, but are mottled below. After the first autumn the males are blackish brown with broad brown fringes, and the crown is always conspicuously paler than the back.

Bill and legs black ; iris brown (Hume).

Length about 7; tail 2.7; wing 3.6 ; tarsus 1; bill from gape .75.

Distribution. A constant resident in the plains of the Punjab, Sind, and Rajputana, extending in this latter area as far south only as Jodhpur and Sambhar ; and apparently not passing east of the Jumna river. This species extends on the west to Kandahar. It appears to be somewhat rare, but I have seen specimens killed in the above localities in every month of the year except May and July,

Seebohm records this bird from the cultivated districts of Turkestan, apparently on the authority of Severtzoff; but this gentleman states (S. E. iii, p. 429) that S. lugens, Licht., of his Turkestan list, is nothing but S. morio or S. hendersoni, and consequently there are now no grounds for stating that S. capistrata occurs in Turk­estan.

Habits, &c. Nothing is known of the nidification of this species.

J- A. S. B. xvi. p. 131; Bp. Consp. i. p. 304 ; Jerd. B. Ind. ii. p. 131, No. 489; Blf. and Dresser, P. Z. S. 1874, p. 227 ; Seebohm, Cat. B. Br. Mus. p. 367; Blf. Eastern Persia, ii. p. 153; Hume Str. F. i. pp. 3, 184. Dromolaea picata (Blyth), Gould B. Asia, pt. xvii. -

The Pied Stone Chat.

Head, neck, back, throat and upper breast black ; quills dark brown, much paler on the under surface; under wing-coverts and axillaries black ; rump, upper tail coverts, lower breast, under tail coverts and vent white ; the under tail coverts in some specimens with a very faint tinge of buffy ; tail white, the two central feathers black for their terminal half, and the others for about one-fourth terminated with blackish brown ; bill and legs black ; irides dark brown.

The adult female in breeding plumage is earthy brown, slightly paler on the margins of the quills, wing coverts, the chin, upper throat and breast shading into nearly white on the belly and more or less suffused with buff on the under tail coverts ; rump and tail as in the male, except that the white is occasionally slightly suffused with buff.

Length. - 6.25 to 6.5 inches; wing 3.7 ; tail 2.75; bill at front 0.5.

Hab. - Sind, Beloochistan, S. E. Persia, S. Afghanistan, the Punjab. N. W. Provinces, Oudh, and Guzerat. Breeds in Persia and South Afghanistan.

The Pied Chat.

Saxicola picata, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xvi, p. 131 (1847); id. Cat. p. 167; Horsf. & M. Cat. i, p. 287; Jerd. B. I. ii, p. 131; Blanf. & Dresser, P. Z. S. 1874, p. 227; Hume, S. F. iii, p. 475; id. Cat. no. 489; Seebohm, Cat. B. M. v, p. 307 ; Barnes, S. F. ix, p. 217; Biddulph, Ibis, 1881, p. 56; Scully, Ibis, 1881, p. 441; Biddulph, Ibis, 1882, p. 236 ; Barnes, Birds Bom. p. 202; Oates in Hume's N. & E. 2nd ed. ii, p. 52. Dromolaea picata (Blyth), Hume, S. F. i, p. 184; Ball, S. F. iii, p. 206.

The Pied Stone-Chat, Jerd.
 

Coloration. Male. The whole head and neck all round, back, scapulars and wings, under wing-coverts and axillaries deep black; remainder of lower plumage with the rump and upper tail-coverts white; tail white, except the terminal half of the middle pair of feathers and a broad band at the tip of the others, which are black. There is hardly any difference between the summer and winter plumages.

Female. Upper plumage brown; rump and upper tail-coverts white; tail as in male, but black replaced by brown; wings brown, all the feathers broadly edged with rufous; chin, throat, and breast dark ochraceous brown; remainder of the lower parts very pale buff or pinkish white.

The young resemble the female but are mottled below, and the crown is always of the same colour as the back.

A few adult males have sometimes a small amount of white ou the crown or over the ear-coverts, and occasionally in birds about to moult nearly the whole crown is white.

Bill and legs black; iris dark brown (Bingham).

Length about 7; tail 2.7; wing 3.5; tarsus 1; bill from gape .75.

Distribution. The Pied Chat summers in Gilgit and the mountains of Afghanistan and Baluchistan, extending at this season to Persia. In winter it visits the plains of the Punjab, Sind, Guzerat, Rajputana as far east as Deesa and Sambhar, and the Northwest Provinces down to Allahabad. At this season it is also found in the low country of Baluchistan and Afghanistan.

Habits, &c. Breeds from March to July, constructing a nest of grass, lined with feathers, in a hole of a wall or a cleft of a rock. The eggs are greenish blue, with very pale marks of rusty brown round the larger end, and measure about .81 by .56.

Saxicola capistrata Gould, Birds of Asia, vol. iv, pi, 23, Apl. 1865 : Upper Provinces = Sind.

Saxicola picata Blyth, J. A. S. B., vol. xvi, p. 131, 1847: Scinde.