MONTICOLA SAXATILIS 17 



In Algeria the Rock-Thrush, although not numerous, occurs in 

 most of the mountainous districts, and probably breeds there. 



In Marocco also, according to Mr. Meade-AValdo {Ihis, 1903, 

 p. 205), the species is not numerous, but breeds in all suitable 

 locaHties up to a great elevation. He observed it at an altitude of 

 10,500 feet. 



In its habits and life generally the present species greatly resembles 

 its more frequently observed congener, the Blue Rock-Thrush, though 

 differing from that species in being far more migratory in its instincts. 

 M. saxatilis is, in fact, essentially a migrant, occurring in Europe and 

 North Africa almost exclusively in summer and on passage, whereas 

 M. cijanus is resident and to be met with at all seasons in most 

 Mediterranean countries. Both species well deserve their names, 

 being true mountain birds, and rarely to be found at any distance 

 from rocky ground, the rougher and more broken this may be, the 

 better suited it is to the tastes and requirements of the birds. Wooded 

 districts are more or less shunned, unless there should happen to be 

 rocky ground also near at hand. The favourite haunts of Monticola, 

 however, are undoubtedly wild mountain ravines and valleys, strewn 

 with huge boulders and rocks of every size, where a few dwarf bushes 

 and an occasional stunted and weather-beaten tree are the only signs 

 of vegetation. In such spots as these, which abound in the Atlas 

 region, one may be pretty sure of meeting with M. cijanus at any time 

 of the year, and with M. saxatilis during the periods of migration, 

 although the latter species is far less abundant than the former, and 

 generally frequents somewhat higher altitudes. Both species are, how- 

 ever, extremely solitary in their habits, and it is a rare occurrence, out 

 of the breeding season, to meet with these birds otherwise than singly. 

 When nesting, they may occasionally be observed in pairs, but as a 

 rule they are not at all sociable in their instincts, or naturally 

 gregarious. 



Canon Tristram, however, appears to have had the highly interest- 

 ing and exceptional experience of seeing a large flock of M. saxatilis 

 in Palestine, where, on one occasion, early in April, the whole of 

 Mount Gerizim, according to his account, was covered by a restless 

 flock of these birds, on their passage northwards. A similar flock was 

 also seen by him on another occasion near Damascus in 1881. 



The food of the Rock-Thrush consists chiefly of insects and their 

 larvae, worms, and snails, as also of berries to a certain extent, although 



