Ornithology of Northei-n Africa. 297 



seen afar j his clear bright colouring gleams in contrast with 

 the universal brown around him. Conscious of his attractions^ he 

 attempts no concealment, but relies for safety on his watchful 

 eye and rapid movements, and, above all, on the snug retreat 

 which he always has open before him — his hole in the rocks or 

 his burrow in the sand. I think that those who are familiar 

 with the habits of this class will at once admit the propriety of 

 Cabanis' separation of the genus Dromolcea from the old one 

 of Saxicola. Strong as are the structural affinities through- 

 out the whole, the manners of the living birds are in marked 

 contrast. Wherever there are savage ravines, bare cliflFs re- 

 flecting a burning glare on the hungry valley, rent chasms, fear- 

 ful in the unspeakable stillness which pervades the transparent 

 atmosphere around, gorges which strike the intruder with awe, 

 as though life, vegetable or animal, had never dared to intrude 

 there before, even here may a pair of Rock-Chats of some species 

 or other be detected. If a snap shot has been successful, the 

 victim generally contrives to escape into some deep fissure to 

 die ; and frequently it is impossible to recover the spoils. 

 Dromolcea leucura is found only in the north of the Desert. 

 El' Aghouat may be considered its southern limit ; and it alone 

 of the class comes up to the foot of the Atlas, on the southern 

 slopes of which it is tolerably abundant from Morocco to Tunis, 

 breeding among the rocks, building a compact nest of moss and 

 hair, and laying ordinarily four eggs, somewhat larger than 

 those of the Wheatear, of a rich deep greenish blue, covered 

 towards the larger end with rust-red blotches and spots. Its 

 song is monotonous, consisting of but three notes ; but the call- 

 note is clear, loud, and musical. 



34. Dromol^a leucopygia (Brehm, Cab. Journ. f. Orn. 

 1858, p. 66). (White-rumped Rock-Chat.) 



Of this bird I had prepared a description as of a new species, 

 under the very name given to it by Brehm, before I was aware 

 that he had already published it from Nubian specimens in 

 Cabanis' Journal, — a lesson this to naturalists not to allow a 

 year and a half to elapse before making public their discoveries; 

 for I had obtained a series of specimens a twelvemonth before 



