NOVITATES ZOOLOGICAE XX!. lilU. ' 20l 



77. Merops apiaster L. 



Not r<are near Aiu Sefra. A female was caiiglit by some boys, on May 9, on 

 a nest with two eggs. 



78. Upupa epops epops L. 



Observed near Tlemcen, end of April. 



79. Coracias garrulus garrulus L. 

 8een on April 27 near Lalla Manila, and on May 17 near Aiu Sefra. 



80. Picus vaillantii (Malh.). 



A few were heard and seen in the oak-woods between Tlemcen and Terni in 

 May, bnt they were wonderfnlly shy, so that none conld be shot. 



81. Jynx torquilla torquilla L. 



Several were seen in tlie oak-wood of BIsila, west of Oran, on April 15. A 

 female which was shot belongs nndonbtedly to the N. European form, its colour 

 being light and very rufescent, the wing measuring 87'5 mm. The ovaries were 

 slightly swollen. 



82. Cuculus canorus snbsp. ? 



Cuckoos were seen near Tlemcen on April 15, but we could not say if they 

 belonged to the European or North African (smaller) race. 



83. Clamator glandarius fL.). 

 {Coccystes glandarias auct.) 



In the woods beyond Tiffrit, N.E. by E. of Saida, on May 21, a specimen flew 

 across the road close to ns, bat we did not succeed iu obtaining it. It is apparently 

 a companion of the Magpies, whose old nests we found in numbers in the same 

 place. Mr. Lepitre told ns also that he had seen this large Cuckoo among the 

 terebinth-trees east of Lalla Marnia. The note of the bird we saw was a loud 

 " ki-a-kia-kia," difficult to describe, and somewhat reminding one of the cry of 

 a female Sparrow-hawk, but harsher and more grating. 



84. Athene noctua glaux (Sav.). 



. Hartert, Vug. pal. Fauna, ii. p. 10U3. 



The North-African Clay-coloured Little Owl appears to be pretty widely dis- 

 tributed over Northern Algeria. It is found at Philippeville, Constantine, Bone, 

 near Lac Fetzara, and Alger. In West Algeria we found it near Djebel Khar 

 (east of Oran), at Tlemcen, along the road between Tlemcen and Ain Temonchent, 

 and near Oran. Though variable, these birds are easily distinguishable from the 

 equally variable but much paler and more sandy-looking southern representative, 

 A. noctua saharae (Kleinschm,). 



85. Otus scops scops (L.) 



Near Tlemcen and in the woods near Tiffrit, north-east of Saida, where a clutch 

 of three fresh eggs was found in an old Magpie's nest on May 21. 



