SAXICOLA MCESTA 45 



looked upon as the favourite haunts of the species, S. moesta also 

 occurs ill the Chott, or salt-marsh country, and indeed the most 

 northerly district in the Regency from which I have a note of its 

 occurrence, is precisely of that description. This district lies between 

 Source des Trois Palmiers and Mahares on the east coast, and Mr. 

 Aplin here met with two pairs of this Chat, both with young broods, 

 about the middle of April. On the whole, however, I am of opinion 

 that the sandy gravel or stony plains are more attractive to the 

 species than the soft salt-marsh country. 



From most of the districts bordering the Chott Djerid I have 

 either specimens or notes of the occurrence of this Chat, as also from 

 the country further south, lying between the coast and the true sandy 

 desert, and extending nearly to the Tripoli frontier. In the spring, 

 when my visits to North Africa have generally taken place, I have 

 found S. moesta mostly in pairs, and throughout the month of April 

 often met with such pairs, with their young broods, fully fledged and 

 on the wing. The species is undoubtedly an early breeder, and young 

 birds six weeks old may be obtained at the beginning of April. Nest- 

 ing, however, continues throughout the spring, and second broods are 

 no doubt common. With regard to the breeding of this interesting 

 species, I think I cannot do better than give the following extract of 

 what I wrote on the subject in the Ibis for 1898 (pp. 129-182) : — 



"With regard to the nesting of Saxicola moesta, comparatively little 

 has previously been recorded, Canon Tristram, I believe, being the 

 only one who has hitherto been fortunate enough to find the nest and 

 eggs of this bird {Ibis, 1859, p. 299 ; " Birds of Europe," vol. ii. p. 227). 

 I propose, therefore, giving a description of the nest and eggs I found 

 of this species, and of its breeding-habits generally, so far as I was 

 able to observe them. 



" Of this Chat I took three nests, two of them near Eas-el-Aioum, 

 a district about twenty-five miles to the west of Gafsa, and a third at 

 Oglet-Zelles, a few miles still further west. Eas-el-Aioum is situated 

 at the extreme south of the Haut Plateau, which is bounded on the 

 north by the high range of mountains forming the natural frontier 

 between Algeria and Tunisia, and on the south by the lower range, 

 beyond which lies the desert country of the Chotts. The elevation 

 of this district is about 1,200 feet above sea-level, and the character 

 of the country is of the semi-desert description, with stony plains, 

 covered with a scanty scrub vegetation ; although, owing to its 



