( 478) 



as the middle of May. If this ohservatioii is correct, one would, from that date, 

 suggest that they were breeding, and it is to be much regretted that this (juestion 

 was not investigated. In I'Jits we did not come across any Chaffinches, but in 1909 

 we obtained two males and two females near the town of Algiers, ou February 27, 

 where they appeared to be common. We also saw examples near Algiers and 

 Hammam Meskoutiae in January and February 1911. 



IS. Fringilla coelebs africana Lev. 



(Cf. Hartert, Vijg. jml. Fauna i. p. 127.) 



The Algerian Chaffinch is very common in the gardens and woods of Northern 

 Algeria. We found it common at the " Bois de Boulogne "' ami other woods and 

 parks near Algiers, near C'onstantine, at Batna and Lamliese, near Hammam K'liira, 

 Bone aud Hammam Meskoutiue. In all these districts it is breeding and resident. 

 We also came across it at El Kantara and Biskra in the month of March, but 

 ■whether it was breeding in these places we doubt very much. No specimens were 

 seen at Laghouat in April 1911. 



Eggs were taken near Batna on May 8, and at Hammam Meskoutine on 

 May 17. Nests and eggs do not differ in any essential way from those of F. coelebs 

 coelebs. We found one nest in an olive-tree, others in pines. The eggs we 

 took measure 217 x l.rl, 22-1 x 15, 20 x 15, 19-7 x 15-1, 19-1 x 15, and 

 19'5 X lo'l mm. 



The distribution of F. coelebs africana is a wide one, as it extends from Algeria 

 to the south-west Atlas in Southern Morocco. It was found there near Mogador, 

 and more common near Imiutanout, Tamaronth, 8eksawa and Imizeu in the Atlas 

 Mountains. On the other hand it is replaced by the rather paler F. coelebs spodio- 

 fjeni/s in parts of Tunisia, and by the smaller and darker F. coelebs koenigi in the 

 neighbourhood of Tangier in North Morocco. 



Mr. Whitaker {B. Tunisia, i. j). 215) says that we have separated F. coelebs 

 koenigi (F. spotliogeiiys koenigi Rothschild and Hartert, Orn. Monatsber. 1893, 

 p. 97, 1894, p. 75), but scarcely on sufficient grounds. Probably Mr. Whitaker 

 mixed together his specimens from the south and north of Morocco, for, if he had 

 compared a series from Tangier only, he would have seen at a glance, if nothing 

 else the smaller beak and the very small amount of white at the bases of the 

 median secondaries, in comparison to the Tunisian spudiogcngs and the south 

 Moroccan and Algerian africana. In our collection only the series from Tangier 

 is referable to koenigi, and it was jirobably a mistake that one of us included such 

 localities as Marrakoah, Tilula and Bas-el-Ain in the range of koenigi {Viig. pal. 

 Fauna i. p. 128). 



Near Mazagan one of us, during a week's camping out in a most suitable 

 orange-wood on the banks of the Gum R'bia, particularly noticed the absence of 

 Finches ; and Mr. Riggenbach, who collected there several years, never obtained an 

 example anywhere near Blazagan. 



19. Petronia petronia barbara Va\. 



Vol/. ]ial. Fauna i. pp. 143, xxi. note G. 



Kollibay {Orn. Mo7iatsber. 1905, p. 24) separated the Algerian form under the 

 name oi Petronia petronia algeriensis. We have carefully compared 13 Algerian 

 skins with 10 from Tunisia, but cannot lind the slightest diti'erence. The Algerian 

 birds must therefore be united with /'. p. barhard of Tunisia. 



