( 473) 



at that time have come from North Algeria in all probability. Even the 

 original description points to the fact that it was not taken from a Lambese 

 specimen, for no mention is made of a dusk\' jngnlar band, and the wing measure- 

 ment is given as 190 mm. ! It must also be remembered that North Algeria 

 and North Tunisia have the same fauna — moreover, Ain Draham, the terra 

 tj'pica of (jr. g. h-oi'iiigi, is on the frontier — while the fanna of the sonthern 

 Atlas range, the Aures Mountains as they are often called, differs in .some 

 respects from that of the northern range of monntains. It is naturally the 

 geogra])hical distribution, which is dependent on the physical nature of the 

 country and not the political frontier — that is to say, not the question whether 

 a bird comes from " Algeria " or from " Tunisia " — which is of importance to us. 

 In 1911 we collected a female on the Djebel Taya and two males near Hammam 

 R'hira. These birds agree in all details of coloration with our series from 

 Lambese, and their wings (somewhat worn) measure only about 170, 177 and 178 mm. 

 This proves our contention of the impossibility of separating a northern and a 

 southern form in Algeria, and we regard koenigi as a mere synonym of cercicalis. 



The iris of the Algerian Jays was found to be dull lilac or reddish grey, the 

 bill black, feet pale brownish flesh. 



Fliickiger obtained Jays on the Djebel Cheliah in July 1903. 



The existence and distribution of G. glandarius minor is still somewhat 

 mysterious. The probable type of this form, and the only specimen from Algeria 

 known to us in any collection, is that in the British Museum. Hartert {Vog. pal. 

 Fauna, I. pp. 31, 32) came to the conclnsion that Mr. Whitaker's " Gan-ulus oenops " 

 from Morocco was a synonym of " G. minor," and this is probably correct, 

 though Mr. Whitaker (B. Tunisia, li. p. 10) still thinks that minor and oenops 

 might differ in certain respects, and that this question can only be settled 

 by comparing further specimens. Such have been obtained by Riggenbach, 

 who sent us not less than twenty skins from the South Moroccan Atlas, from 

 Tamerouth (Tamarut), Temeroui, Fenzou and Tizi Taletoukiar. Their wings 

 measure : males 160-165, females 149-160 mm. " Iris blue." 



Where now does this bird occur in Algeria ? Loche in his great work 

 said he obtained it in " the south of the province of Alger," without stating the 

 exact locality. In his first tentative list, entitled Catalogue des Mummifcres et des 

 (Jheaux obserccs en Algcrie, Paris, 1858, where in many instances exact localities 

 are given which are not found in his great work, however, he mentions a male, 

 evidently then in the " Exposition permaneute " in Algiers, from Djelfa ! Un- 

 fortnnately we did not before know of this statement, as we received the rare little 

 book only quite recently, but when passing through Djelfa we do not remember 

 having seen any woods in the immediate neighbourhood. 



o. Pica pica mauritanica Malh. 



Strange to say, and to our disappointment, we never saw or heard a Magpie 

 in Algeria.* In 1892 Professor Koenig found it common near Batna, while in 

 1893 he never was able to see the sign of one. In the Joiirn. /. Orn. 189.5 he 

 raises the ipiestion at length why this might have been the case : he thinks it 

 might possibly have been because 1893 was a very dry year, while 1892 was 

 an unusally wet one — an explanation which seems to us to be very unlikely, 

 though we cannot offer a better one in its place. 



* Mr. Herzig obtaiueJ specimens near Bou .Saada, where it breeds. 



