5G2 Mr. C. Dixon on the 



MUSCICAPA ATRICAPILLA. 



We met with the Pied Flycatcher very commonly at Con- 

 stantine, thence more sparingly at Lambessa, Oucd Taga, 

 Batna^ El Kantara, and Biskra. 



Lanius rufus. 



The Woodchat Shrike is commonly distributed wherever 

 the vegetation is sufficiently dense to afford it cover. We 

 met with it everywhere from Philippeville to Biskra. 



Saxicola leucura. 



We found the sprightly Black-Chat ■ shortly before we 

 reached Batna, and also in the mountains west of that place. 

 It was also seen occasionally on the roadside in the most 

 desert tracts, where its cheerful presence appeared the only 

 sign of life. At El Kantara it was by far the commonest, 

 and breeds in the rocky pass there. I found a nest of this 

 species barely finished on the 9th of May. It was composed 

 of dried herbage, and lined with a few hairs. The flight of 

 this bird is a straight, unwavering one ; and it possesses the 

 habit, in common with most of its genus, of dropping behind 

 the rocks and creeping into holes if pursued. Its note is 

 loud and musical. 



Saxicola aurita. 



It was only on a bare patch of stony groimd near El Kan- 

 tara that we saw and obtained specimens of the Black-eared 

 Chat. 



Saxicola lugens. 



It was only at Biskra that we met with the white-under- 

 winged Pied-Chat. There it was far from numerous, how- 

 ever, and we only succeeded in obtaining two females and a 

 male. This Chat frequented the most sterile and desert bit 

 of country round the oasis — the stony and arid hill-sides, 

 and the broad sandy plain covered with rocks, where scarcely 

 a trace of vegetation was to be found. Here, amidst this 

 wilderness, this pretty little bird flitted from rock to rock 

 before us, and was somewhat wary, seldom allowing one to 

 approach it within gunshot. 



