TURDUS TORQDATUS ALPESTRIS 15 



orientalis. Apparently intermediate forms between the local races 

 have been met with, and it is, of course, not unnatural that hybridism 

 should occur between such closely-allied forms. 



The range of the Alpine King-Ouzel appears to extend throughout 

 the greater part of the mountainous regions of Southern and Central 

 Europe, reaching as far as Central Germany on the north, Asia Minor 

 on the east, and North-west Africa on the south. Westward it is 

 said to occur in Spain and the south of France, which is no doubt 

 the case, although typical T. torquatus is also to be found in these 

 countries. 



South of the Mediterranean, the Alpine Ring-Ouzel undoubtedly 

 occurs in Tunisia, as shown by specimens in my collection ; and, 

 although I have no examples of it from Algeria and Marocco, the 

 species probably also occurs in both those countries, as well as typical 

 T. torquatus. 



In Tunisia the present subspecies is not common or of general 

 distribution, although Baron Erlanger mentions having met with it 

 frequently in some of the mountainous parts of the centre of the 

 Regency, and it is not unlikely that it may be more numerous in some 

 years than in others. 



There is at present no authentic proof tiiat the Alpine Ring-Ouzel 

 breeds in Tunisia, or indeed anywhere in North-west Africa, but I 

 think it highly probable that it does so in some of the higher 

 mountains of the Tell. 



As mentioned in the preceding article, Malherbe alludes to the 

 Ring-Ouzel having been observed on the Edough mountain, near Bone, 

 in the month of May, and it is more probable that the Alpine bird 

 should occur as a breeding species south of the Mediterranean than 

 the northern form. 



In its general habits the Alpine Ring-Ouzel does not seem to differ 

 greatly from T. torquatus, although it apparently does so in its choice 

 of a site for its nest, this being invariably placed in a tree, and not on 

 the ground or in a low bush, as in the case of the northern bird. 



