192 il/r. H. Saunders. 



and not black cheeks, thus forming an interesting link between 

 the northern form, and G. vaillanti of Algeria. The rosy- 

 breasted Laiiius meridionnlis, the Iberian representative of the 

 great shrike of Northern Europe actually nests within sight of 

 the African coast, yet he has never been known to cross the 

 narrow Straits of Gibraltar ; nor does his pale grey, heavy 

 billed cousin L. algerieiisis ever fly over to visit him from 

 Tangiers. For complete isolation the most remarkable bird 

 is the Spanish azure-winged magpie (Cyaitopica cooki). It 

 differs but slightly in tint, and in a smaller amount of white 

 on the tips of its tail feathers, from Cyanopica cyanea of 

 China and Japan, and considering the time which must have 

 elapsed since the communication between the two species was 

 cut off, the smallness of variation which has yet been produced 

 may convey a lesson to those who ask for a sign, and will not 

 believe in evolution, unless they see it performed within the 

 brief span of observation allotted to human life. 



Another bird of the same family, which exhibits some 

 interesting gradations, is the Magpie. The common species 

 of the West of Europe is found throughout the Peninsula, but 

 in the district between the Sierra Nevada and the Mediterranean 

 is found a bird (which I now exhibit), which is distinctly a 

 connecting link between the Northern form and the Moorish 

 Magpie, Pica Mauritanica. The latter has become so distinct 

 since the separation of Spain and Africa, as to be con- 

 sidered a valid species ; the intermediate form is nearer, 

 and naturally so, to the dominant species in the Peninsula. 

 Among the Alaudidce, there is one well-defined species of 

 shorted toed Lark, namely, Calandrella batica, which appears 

 to be peculiar in Spain, but a very closely allied form 

 C reboudia inhabits Northern Africa. And there is a very 

 peculiar Desert Lark, Certliilauda dupouti, with the curved 

 bill characteristic of the purely African forms, which appears 

 to visit Spain from Africa on the autumn migration. Why it 

 migrates Northwards in autumn, I cannot say ; it is possible 

 that it breeds in Spain, but beyond the fact that several 

 examples were obtained in Malaga, all in November, and 

 all young birds, we know nothing. 



One more bird may be mentioned as showing the connection 

 between Africa and Southern Spain, and that is the Andalusian 

 Hemipode. It occurs in Spain, over a limited area, along the 

 south coast, just where we know that the latest union with 

 Africa existed ; it also occurs under precisely similar conditions 

 in the south of Sicily. It has never been known to straggle to 

 any other countries, its real home is in the two mentioned, and 

 along the coast of North Africa. 



