NOVITATES ZOOLOQICAE XXtl. 191?. 66 



The Eiwhloc were over, not a siiiirle one bein^i: seen, bnt Ti't-ucolus nouna was 

 common, and on tlie last day Melituea didi/ma liarterti appeared — possibly they 

 were there before, bnt not seen, because there had been hardly any sun. A few 

 Swallow-tails were canght, and Tarucu» teophrastus was very numerous aronnd some 

 large Zizijpkus bushes. 



In the gardens only Lanius, Crateropus, Emheriza striolata sahari (nesting in 

 houses), and Sparrows (all grey-headed I) were observed ; once some Ravens and now 

 and then a Neophron were noticed flying overhead. The surrounding hammada is 

 rather poor in birds, vegetation being less luxurious than near the Oued N(;a. 



On May 5 we motored to Laghouat, finding a convenient occasion. In the 

 terebinth trees of Tilrhempt Sturnus unicoloi- was feeding its young, Corvus corax 

 ruficollis (= umb/inus) wasdistinctly seen, and.the pretty little Scops-owl called m 

 the middle of the day. 



In Laghouat we had to spend a few days. Again, as before, I was struck with 

 the height of the palm-trees, which surpassed those seen in Biskra and elsewhere. 

 What is said to bathe highest palm in Algeria, since the one in Sidi-Okba has been 

 blown down, stands in a garden close to the hotel. 



Of birds evidently nesting in the gardens we observed, besides grey-headed 

 sparrows: 



Chloris cliloris (mrantiiventris, feeding young ; only seen in the gardens in the 

 town, not farther out in the oasis ; probably recently attracted by the pine-trees in 

 the public garden. 



Carduelis carduelis africcnuis, common. 



Partis cueruleus til/ramariniis, not rare ; feeding young. 



Lanius senator senator, a few here and there. 



Otus scops scops, here and there. 



Emberiza striolata sa/iari, a few observed. 



Hirundo rustica and urbica, both species common, but apparently few nesting ; 

 some Martins at the hotel. 



There are apparently no Turtle-doves, neither Streptopelia turtur nor 

 senegalensis nesting in Laghouat. Migratory birds were still fairly numerous. 



From Laghouat we jiroceeded by automobile-omnibus to Djelfa. Our object 

 was to rediscover the " Garrulus minor " of Verreaux. So far nothing was known 

 of it but the description and figure. I had united with it the '^Garrulus oenops^^ 

 of Whitaker, from the Great Atlas of Marocco, but it was desirable to compare 

 a series from the typical locality. There are forests with fairly large oaks not 

 very far from Djelfa, but they are not near enough to be conveniently reached. 

 Moreover it was windy and cold, and Jays are not easily obtained during the breeding 

 season ; so it happened that we only shot two specimens, but we also got a 

 clutch of eggs. ^Ve were fortunate to make the acquaintance of Mr. Saby, the 

 " garde general des forets " for the district, who is greatly interested in natural 

 history, and our thanks are due to him for kind help and pleasant hours. 



From Djelfa we proceeded to Am-Onssera, where we collected Galerida 

 cristata randoni, the type of which was shot there half a century ago, and at last 

 we were right in the region of Cltersophilus jluponti, which we had e.xpected (cf. 

 Nov. Zool. xviii. p. 465). 



From Ain-Oussera we continued our journey northwards to Boghari, thence by 

 train to Alger, and on May 17 we joined Mr. llothschild again at the beautiful, 

 idyllic Hammam Meskoutine, where we collected for nearly another fortnight. On 



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