MONTICOLA.
Chat-like Thrushes of solitary habits, frequenting rocky places or ruins; cup nest in clefts and holes in rocks or stone walls; eggs greenish blue, uniform or faintly spotted red.
Monticola saxatilis (L.). ROCK THRUSH. Fr. Merle de roche ; Ger. Steindrossel ; Ital. Codirossone.
summer. Head and neck blue, scapulars, upper back and rump dark blue ; lower back white ; upper tail coverts, tail and underparts orange red. Bill black. Legs and feet brown.
Wing, 117-129 (W.). Tarsus 26-28. Bill 16-18. summer. Above pale brown, tinged bluish, with white tips and dark anteapical spots ; tail orange red ; beneath pale ochreous, with bluish white tips and barred with dark brown. Wing 114-123 (NV.). In winter both sexes have the feathers tipped reddish above, and white below. Young have black shaft streaks and minute spots on back.
Breeds.—Mountains of C. and S. Europe, north to Luxemburg and N. France ; Caucasus ; S. Siberia to N. China ; also N.W.
Africa. Occurs on passage Sicily, Malta, Sardinia, Corsica, Egypt. Winters in tropical Africa, N.W. India, China. Casual
in I;ritain.
Monticola solitarius solitarius (L.). BLUE ROCK THRUSH. Fr. Merle bleu ; Ger. Blaudrossel ; 11a1. Passera solitaria.
j Dark grey blue, wings and tail slaty black with blue edges (in winter many feathers edged whitish). Bill, legs and feet black. Wing j ? 113-128. Tarsus 27-31. Bill 18-23. Above brown, tinged bluish, with faint cross bars of grey brown ; beneath grey blue with similar bars, but broader. Young : above brown, no blue tinge ; below dark buff with dark subter minal bars.
Breeds.—Mountains of C. and S. Europe ; France, Spain, Portugal, Balearic Islands, Italy, Austria, Balkans, Greece and its islands ; Malta ; N.W. Africa ; Asia Minor to Caucasus and Persia. Partial migrant ; occurs Egypt on passage, and in winter N.E. and W. Africa.
M. solitarius transcaspicus Hartert. j paler blue, ? paler, more greyish, than j and ? of typical form.
Breeds.—W. Asia. Occurs on spring migration in Egypt, and has also occurred there in winter.