CORVUS CORAX TINGITANUS 21 



troublesome at times, though always most amusing. Like others of 

 its kind, however, it is a sad thief, having, inter alia, a special liking 

 for door keys. These it extracts from their sockets, and hides in 

 some out of the way spot, where they are sometimes found months 

 afterwards. 



C. c. tingitanus commences nesting operations in March, as a 

 rule, and by the beginning of April eggs may be found in the more 

 southern districts. At Kas-el-Aioun, near Gafsa, I found full clutches 

 by the middle of April, and at Djebel Semama and Djebel Selloum 

 about a fortnight later. In every instance the nest was placed in 

 some hole in a high river bank or cliff, and not in a tree, although 

 trees were plentiful in the two latter districts. 



C. corax also seems to prefer cliffs and rocks as sites for its nest, 

 although it also frequently builds in trees. That Irby's Eaven, how- 

 ever, nests in trees as well as in cliffs is undoubted, as Dr. Koenig 

 found it breeding in Aleppo-pine trees nearBatna (J. f. 0. 1899, p. 94), 

 and Taczanowski also seems to have observed the same fact, and 

 moreover apparently found the species nesting in colonies, as he 

 mentions having "counted as many as twenty nests within a short 

 distance " — presumably of each other. Canon Tristram too, when 

 writing of the breeding of these birds, says that "although not 

 breeding in communities, the nests are frequently within a few yards 

 of each other " (Ibis, 1859, p. 291). 



The high marl banks of the Tunisian oueds, which are really 

 small cliffs, are favourite sites for the nest of this Kaven, and when 

 built in such places, they are generally inaccessible, save to the 

 barefooted Arab urchins, who scale the crumbling sides like cats. 

 The nests are composed of a few sticks, loosely put together, and 

 lined with a little wool or camel's hair, and occasionally a bit of rag 

 or cotton stuff from some Arab encampment. The eggs vary in 

 number from four to six, and resemble small examples of those of 

 C. corax, being generally of a pale sea-green, plentifully spotted 

 all over with small spots and larger blotches and streaks, the shell- 

 marks being grey, and the surface-marks blackish-brown. Eggs in 

 my collection vary in measurements from 41 to 53 X 30 to 34 mm. 



