On Birds from Algeria. 179 



judgment as to whether the f Caga-sebo' is predominantly 

 harmful. It is still possible that it is periodically busy in 

 the destruction of noxious insects. Further examination 

 and observation in this direction, therefore, are desirable, 

 and I hope soon to be able to furnish some supplementary 

 data on this subject." 



XVIII. — Notes on a small Collection of Birds from Algeria. 

 By Harry F. Witherby. 



So much has been published both in Germany and in this 

 country on the birds of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunis that I 

 shall make my remarks in this paper as brief as possible, 

 and shall include in the list which follows only those species 

 of which specimens were actually obtained. The collection 

 was made by my wife and myself in Algeria in March, 

 April, and May 1904. 



We stayed from March 7th to 16th at Biskra, the well- 

 known oasis. Its predominant feature is the date-palm, 

 but here and there are gardens with acacias, mimosas, 

 and other trees and shrubs, while there is some land with 

 corn. A very short time suffices to get out of the oasis, 

 however, either into the flat desert or into rocky and barren 

 hills. 



On March 16th we journeyed north and collected until 

 April 7th at Hammam Meskoutine, in the hills near Con- 

 stantine. A good deal of the land there is cultivated, but 

 most of the surrounding hills are covered with wild olive-trees 

 or thickly overgrown with various shrubs, while here and 

 there are dense thickets and wild and thickly wooded glens. 



From April 14th to May 6th we were at Hammam 

 R'Hira, a few miles west of Algiers, where the chief attrac- 

 tion is a large pine-forest, which, unlike most pine-woods, 

 is so thick with undergrowth as to be in some parts almost 

 impenetrable. 



From May 8th-23rd we collected near Les Glacieres, a 

 small hotel in the Little Atlas Mountains not far from 



