SAXICOLA DESERTI 41 



green and fresh appearance, but at other seasons it is more or less 

 parched and dry. Numerous Oueds, or river courses, also dry as a 

 rule, intersect the country at intervals, and along their borders may 

 be found clumps of Oleander and Tamarisk bushes. 



The Chotts and Sebkas, or salt marshes, are natural depressions 

 formed in the soil, some of them being actually below the level of 

 the sea, where water collects in winter, after abundant rain, but 

 which are more or less dry in summer, and indeed for the greater 

 part of the year. During this season these districts are covered with 

 a thick stratum of crystallised salt, below which the soil is a soft clay, 

 or viscid mud, most difficult and unpleasant to walk upon. The 

 larger and most important of the Chotts, however, have a certain 

 proportion of solid ground traversed by roads. 



Saxicola mcesta is also a lover of these semi-desert districts, and 

 the two species of Chat, which resemble each other in many respects, 

 may often be found near one another. 



In the districts it frequents S. deserti is very abundant, and one 

 of the commonest birds to be met with. On some of the plains lying 

 to the west of Gafsa the species is plentiful, and from them as well 

 as from many localities further south, and in the neighbourhood of 

 the Chott Djerid, I have numerous examples. 



In the Algerian Sahara, according to various authors, the Desert 

 Chat is abundant in suitable localities, and Dr. Koenig has published 

 some excellent notes regarding the bird and its breeding habits. 

 Canon Tristram's S. Jiomochroa, and Eversman's S. salina are 

 without doubt referable to the present species. In Marocco Mr. 

 Dodson failed to meet with the Desert Chat when collecting for me 

 in that country, but he found the species remarkably plentiful in 

 Tripoli and Cyrenaica. 



As a straggler, this Chat has undoubtedly occurred on three 

 occasions in Great Britain, and likewise thrice on Heligoland. Two 

 of the British specimens were obtained as far north as Scotland, 

 while the third (which I have myself seen) was obtained on the 

 Yorkshire coast and is now in Mr. J. H. Gurney's collection. 



Of all the species of Chat the present is perhaps the least shy, and 

 so tame and confiding is it at times, that it will allow a person to 

 approach within two or three yards of it before taking to flight. It 

 is fond of perching on shrubs and low bushes, and the males are 

 often to be seen thus, uttering their short but fairly varied and not 



