150 BIRDS OF TUNISIA 



clutch is generally four or five, and in colouring and marking, as well 

 as in shape, these vary as much as those of the common Kestrel. As 

 a rule they are of a pale reddish-white, or yellowish colour, covered all 

 over with rufous spots and blotches. The average measurements are 

 35 X 28 mm. 



PANDION HALIAETUS (Linnseus). 

 OSPEEY. 



Falco haliaetus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 129 (1766). 



Pandion haliaetus, Lesson, Man. d'Orn. i, p. 86 (1828) ; Sharpc, Cat. 



Birds Brit. Mus. i, p. 449 ; Malherhe, Cat. Bais. d'Ois. Aly. p. G 



(1846) ; Locke, Expl. Sci. Ahj. Ois. i, p. 37 (1867) ; Koenig, J. f. 0. 



1888, p. 152; icL /. /. 0. 1892, p. 339; Whitaker, Ibis, 1895, p. 104 ; 



Erlanger, J. f. 0. 1898, p. 400. 



Description. — Adult male, winter, from Tunis, North Tunisia. 



Crown and nape creamy-white, streaked with dark earth-brown ; ear- 

 coverts blackish ; remainder of upper-plumage dark brown, becoming 

 blackish on the quills ; the central pair of rectrices light brown, and white 

 on the inner webs ; underparts white, with a broad pectoral band of light 

 brown on the breast. 



Iris bright yellow ; bill Ijlackish ; cere and feet bluish. 



Total length 23-50 inches, wing 20, culmen 190, tarsus 2. 



Adult female similar to the male, but somewhat larger. 



The Osprey appears to be by no means uncommon on the coasts 

 of Tunisia, and is resident there, according to Blanc, nesting in the 

 more barren and wilder parts of the country or on the small islands 

 adjoining the mainland. 



On the Lake of Tunis, where fish are numerous, the species may 

 occasionally be observed, and Blanc informs me that he has seen 

 it on the islands of Iverkennah and Djerba, in the south of the 

 Kegency. Salvin and Dr. Koenig also appear to have observed it on 

 El-Bahira, the Tunis lake, while Erlanger met with it on the small 

 island of Knais, near El-Skirra in Central Tunisia, and one of his 

 party noticed another bird in the neighbourhood of the Djebel Sidi- 

 Aich, some way inland. Salvin also saw the Osprey at Bone on the 

 North Tunisian coast. 



