256 BIRDS OF TUNISIA 



more frequently than the female. Loche kept these birds in confine- 

 ment, and consequently had ample opportunity of listening to them 

 and of hearing them utter this strange sound. To this note is due 

 the bird's Spanish name of Torillo, which signifies a little bull. 

 When flushed and flying off the species utters a weak and querulous 

 cry of alarm. 



Though shy in its wild state, this bird becomes remarkably tame 

 in captivity, and like others of the genus, breeds freely in confinement. 



The species appears to be strictly monogamous, and rears two 

 broods in the course of the year, the incubation of the eggs, and the 

 bringing up of the young when hatched being undertaken principally, 

 if not entirely, by the male. The nest, a slight structure composed 

 of grasses, is placed on the ground in the middle of a low bush, and 

 the eggs, of which the complement appears to be four, are of a light 

 buff-colour, closely spotted with violet-grey shell-marks and dark 

 brown surface-marks. Average measurements 25 X 21 mm. 



