134 Dr. von Heuglin on the Malurinse 



more bulging in the middle. The nest never hangs freely, like 

 a purse-nest, but it is interwoven with leaf-sheaths, thorns, 

 twigs, and even grass-stalks, and composed of fine dry grass 

 and rootlets. The interior is carefully lined with wool, hair, 

 and fibres. The four vividly reddish white very thin-shelled 

 eggs exhibit numerous ferruginous spots and points, which are 

 usually brought together into the form of a ring at the obtuse 

 end so closely that the ground-colour entirely disappears. There 

 are also some with a greenish-white ground and light violet and 

 rusty-red points and spots. Their form is obtusely oval ; their 

 length being from 6'" to 6j"', and their breadth nearly 5'". On 

 the 27th June I found three nests in Central Nubia, one of 

 which contained two young birds and two unincubated eggs, the 

 second two incubated and the same number of unincubated eggs, 

 and the third two fresh- laid eggs. Savi describes the nest 

 exactly like Passler. Brehm gives no information at all about 

 the nest, except that in Spain he found five light-blue eggs in 

 it*. 



The song of this species has never particularly attracted my 

 attention. The birds live on the sea-shore and up to 6000 

 feet above the level of the sea ; they are by no means shy, and 

 are unwilling to quit their dwelling-place when once they have 

 established themselves. Their flight is short and low; when 

 pursued they endeavour to conceal themselves in the bushes, 

 among which they make their way very nimbly and cleverly. 

 We never saw them running upon the ground; Brehm, on the 

 other hand, says that they do this in the grass ; my friend also 

 remarks that the indigestible parts of the food, which consists 

 of small beetles, Diptera, caterpillars, and little snails, are 

 thrown up in pellets. 



Inhabits also Algeria (Loche, Tristram), Cape Lopez (Du 

 Chaillu), Zanzibar (Kirk), Southern Europe, Syria and Asia 

 Minor, eastward as far as India. 



* [We have before (Ibis, 1868, p. 131) had occasion to refer to the 

 paper of M. Lunel (Bull. Soc. Orn. Suisse, i. pp. 9-30), in which that 

 gentleman shows how the difterent accounts of the eggs and nest of this 

 species which have been given by various naturalists may be reconciled. 

 —Ed.] 



