Omifholopj of the Var 8^x. 379 



best French autlioi ity that " leur chair est d^un gout re- 

 cherche," ^'hich is no doubt the only interest the peasant 

 farmer woukl take in them^ except that their unfortunate 

 partiality for figs is an additional reason in his eyes for 

 destroying them. One which 1 skinned in Algeria contained 

 a thick wad of caterpillar's hair^ a proof that this individual 

 at least had done good^. 



Lesser Grey Shrike. Lanius minor. 



Mr. Clarke found this bird excessively common during 

 May and June on the Rhone, and it is also found in the 

 Var, as is more rarely L. meridionaUs (Jaubert) ; but I had 

 not the good luck to meet with any Grey Shrikes^ which 

 was singular, as L. excubitor is not uncommon in some parts 

 of France. 



WooDCHAT. Lanius Isomer amis. "Pie-gri^che rousse." 

 L. pomeranus and L. coUurio appear to be the last of the 

 spring migrants, and very beautiful are the freshly-moulted 

 males, so different to those of Saxicola oenanthe and Musci- 

 capa atricapilla, which come earlier and are often still 

 in the winter plumage. L. pomeranus sits like a sentinel 

 on the cork-trees, and is less demonstrative than L. excubitor, 

 whose tail does not know how to keep still ! All the 

 Shrikes, according to Jaubert and Reguier, are locally known 

 as " Darnagas,^^ a name which Roux says has been wrongly 

 given to them by country people on account of their supposed 

 stupidity. L. pomeranus, however, is rather a stupid bird. 



Pied Flycatcher. Muscicapa atricapilla. " Gobe- 

 mouche noir." 



A late spring migrant, as in Algeria and in other parts of 

 Europe, but probably always commoner in Provence than M. 

 grisola (see Mr. Clarke's remarks, Ibis, 1898, p. 475), though 



* In ' Ornis ' for 1899, p. 130, -will be found a detailed list of the 

 Oriole's food in France in every month of the year, from which it ap- 

 pears that it does a certain amount of harm ; and at p. 57 are added the 

 dates of the arrival in spring, extending over thirty-eight consecutive 

 years, giving an average of April 21st for the middle of Fiance, and pro- 

 bably a few days earlier for the south. 



3c2 



