( 500 ) 



55. Parus major excelsus Buvry. 



^Xe liave onl)- seen this sj)eoies near Aljjiers, at Hammam R'hira.nml Haiunifun 

 Meskontine. Near Alj^iers yonng birds had already left their nest for some time 

 on May 5. lOOS. The wiiijrs of a pair of old birds measure, S 70, ? 72 ram. 



50. Parus caeruleus ultramarinus I'p. 



This Titmonse is common in most suitable places in Algeria from Alsricrs to 

 Biskra. It is at home equally in the pine and oak woods of the north and in the 

 oases of El Kantara and Biskra. Farther west it goes south to Laghonat, bnt is 

 not found in the dayats or in Ghardaia. 



57. Parus ater ledouci Malh. 



We collected some specimens in the woods above Lambs'se and near Batna, 

 where these birds frequent the Ale)))io piues, and one of us saw some at Hammam 

 R'hira and Les Glacieres, Blida. The bill is dark horn-grey, almost black, the feet 

 of a leaden blue-grey. 



58. Lanius excubitor algeriensis Less. 



(Cf . Hartert, Vog. pal. Fauna i. p. 425.) 



To our disappointment we never came across this form. Mr. Bishop, the 

 American ornithologist, however, bonght a specimen on Jannary 10 from an Arab 

 near Algiers, wlio shot it while out shooting thrushes for the market. 



59. Lanius excubitor dodsoni "Whit. 



'We did not obtain specimens of this subs])ecies, but a clutch of eggs received 

 from our faithful guide C'helli Brahim, near Batna, probably belongs to tlodsotii. 

 These eggs are somewhat larger than the majority of eggs of elegans. 



6i». Lanius excubitor elegans Swains. 



(Cf. Hartert, Toy. pal. Fauna i. p. 427 ; Nov. Zool. lOOCi, pp. 305, 396.) 



We have found the pale form of the Grey Algerian Shrike from tiie plain of 

 El Ontaya to Biskra, all the way down to Tonggourt, and as far south as Temacin, also 

 between Tonggourt and El Oued. All the birds collected (eleven in all, besides which 

 we have another nine collected by Fliickiger near Biskra and Touggnurt) show Jitdo 

 variation in colour and size, and in markings only those described by Hartert. The 

 nests we fonnd were mostly placed in the thorny bushes of Zizijphm lotus, rarely 

 in Tamarix. The nests contained from 3 to 5 eggs. The earliest ones we fonnd 

 on March 8, and those were fairly hard-set, bnt fresh eggs were taken as late 

 as April 2(). 



The eggs measure: 28 x 19'9, 28 x 19-5, 27 x 19o, 27-2 x I'.i, and 28-5 

 X 19 mm. ; 26 x 19-1, 25-9 x 14, 2o-5 x 19-6, 25-5 x 18-7, and 25'5 x 185 mm.; 

 25-5 X 19-4 mm. ; 23-4 x 18-5, 24 x 18-8, 24 x 181, and 23-5 x 18-5 mm. ; 

 25-6 X 19, 26-8 x 19, 284 x 18-5 mm. ; 25 x 18-4, 24-3 x 18-7, and 24-5 x 19-1 mm. ; 

 26-8 X 19 mm. ; 28-8 x 18, 25 x 18-5, 25 x 18-4, and 25-7 x 18-4 mm. 



During onr 1911 expedition we first came across L. e. elegans near Laghonat, 

 where it was not rare in the Zizyphus bnshes south of the town. The first specimen 



