My dear Sir

In Monticola cyanea the ♀ is less brightly coloured than the ♂ but not so as to render her less conspicuous, being a very dark mottled brown with some white.¹ The ♀s of the Indian, Chinese, Phillipini, & So. African species differ similarly, & there is no exception in this genus.² The question as to the Dromolæa leucopygia, & D. leucocephala is very curious, because in these species, as in Saxicola leucomela, there is no difference whatever in the sexual coloration.³ While there are species very slightly from these 3 respectively e.g. Drom. monacha, & Saxicola libanotica, where the female is a pale sandy colour, most inconspicuous,⁴ yet all inhabit the same localities, have precisely the same nidification, & the eggs are so alike, that only careful observation of the parent bird could decide to what species they belong. Yet the notes & flight of all the species are so distinct, it is impossible to confound the birds even at a distance.

I find a similar parallelism & contrast in the South African & Himalayan species.

Should you wish to examine for yourself, I shall be very happy to forward you a box of specimens of the various species carefully marked in pairs.

There is nothing more apparently capricious than the colouring of the ♀ in the Chat family,⁵ now identical, now most different in the closest allies— The contrast of blackbird & thrush in this respect is analogous—

Believe me | My dear Sir | Yrs very truly | H. B. Tristram