Birds of the Province of Constantine. 5()5 



1881, p. 274, also strongly supports this statement. It is a 

 gay and lively little bird, fond of perehing in some open 

 place where its charms are fully displayed, and, like all the 

 Chats and Redstarts, possesses the habit of jerking its tail 

 repeatedly. The female bird is far shyer than her mate, and 

 glides Accentor-Wke, through the vegetation, more like a 

 shadow than a bird. 



RUTICILLA PfKENICURUS. 



Mr. Elwes shot a female Redstart on the road to Oued 

 Taga from Lambessa, the only example of this species we 

 met with. 



RUTICILLA TITHYS. 



We found the Black-Redstart in scattered pairs in the 

 Djebel Aures, but nowhere common. 



Erithacus luscinia. 



I saw one example of the Western Nightingale in the 

 neighbourhood of Stora, near Philippeville. A second ex- 

 ample flew on board when we were crossing the Mediter- 

 ranean Sea. 



Sylvia cinerea. 



The Whitethroat is sparingly distributed. We met with 

 this species as far south as Biskra. 



Sylvia curruca. 



The same remarks apply to the Lesser Whitethroat ; but of 

 the two species it appeared the commonest. 



Sylvia deserticola. 



Ti'istram^s Warbler was in certain districts the commonest 

 Warbler we met with. Wherever there was vegetation suffi- 

 cient to afford it shelter it was to be seen. It is a wary little 

 bird, yet far from being shy ; and its charmingly clear and 

 musical song gives life to many otherwise dreary solitudes. 

 We found it exceedingly common in the evergreen oak-scrub 

 in the country round Lambessa, and between that place and 

 Oued Taga. It was also to be seen in the range of hills 

 west of Batna, amongst scrub which our S.provinciaUs would 

 select for a haunt. This delicate little bird was much like 



SER. IV. VOL. VI. L'q 



