Saxicola morio, Hempr. and Ehr. Symb. Phys. fol. a a (1828) ; Dresser, ii. p. 235, pi. 33, figs. 1-3 ; Seebohm, Cat. B. Br. Mus. v. p. 372 ;
Saxicola hendersoni, Hume, Ibis, 1871, p. 408 ; Saxicola talas, Severtzoff, Turk. Jevot. p. 65, pi. viii. figs. 1, 3, 4 (1873); S.ples- chanka (Lepech), Gates, F. Brit. Ind. Birds, ii. p. 73 (1890).
$ ad. (Crimea). Differs from S. lugens in having the inner webs of the primaries black, these being white in that species, and the under tail- coverts and crissum are usually pure white. Culmen 0’7, wing 3’8, tail 2 ‘5, tarsus 0-8 inch. The female has the crown, nape, and back, and the under parts down to the breast earthy brown, the throat marked with black. The young bird in first plumage resembles the female, but the dorsal feathers have pale margins, the lower throat and neck are dull isabelline, the pec- toral band largely developed ; flanks tinged with isabelline ; wings brown ; tail tipped with buff ; base of the mandible brown.
Hal. Cyprus, the Crimea and the lower valley of the Volga, east to Kashmir, south-eastern Siberia, Tibet, Mongolia, and northern China, wintering in N.W. India, Abyssinia, and Arabia, and occasionally in Gilgit.
In general habits it differs somewhat from its congeners in frequently perching on bushes and even on the branches of trees. Its song is described as feeble but agreeable. It breeds in Siberia, north China, Afghanistan, and as far west as Palestine and Cyprus, and places its nest amongst stones, or in a cleft of a rock and deposits in June from 4 to 6 eggs, which are plain pale blue, unspotted or marked with fine red dots, chiefly at the larger end, and measure 0’725 by O565.