SAXICOLA LEUCOPYGA 00 



In Algeria this Chat has been met with by several travellers, and 

 to Canon Tristram, Mr. Gurney, and Dr. Koenig we are indebted for 

 interesting notes regarding the species. 



Loche's names of D. monacha and D. nigra also no doubt refer to 

 this bird, in fact specimens of it exist in the Turati collection of the 

 Milan Museum, which aie wrongly labelled as D. monacha. Of the 

 occurrence of this latter species in North-west Africa there appears 

 to be no authentic record. According to the above authors, S. leu- 

 copyga is abundant in the Algerian Sahara, being found not only 

 on the slopes of the desert mountains and in the rocky " Oueds," or 

 dry watercourses, but also in the immediate vicinity of villages and 

 isolated " Bordjs," or stone-built dwellings. In its habits it resembles 

 the Black Chat (S. leticiird] to a certain extent, but is less shy and 

 solitary than that bird, frequenting the neighbouihood of man without 

 fear, and often actually entering the courtyards of habitations and 

 perching on the flat roofs of houses. It is, indeed, a bold and fearless 

 bird as a rule, although always on the alert, and at times, when 

 apprehensive of danger, even wary and cautious. 



Its food, like that of most Chats in these desert regions, consists 

 principally of coleoptera and other insects, but it has been known to 

 eat the seeds of the pomegranate, and it also probably feeds on scraps 

 of other food, which it picks up in the neighbourhood of habitations. 

 The song of this Chat is said to be short, but very pleasing. Mr. 

 Dodson, who had constant opportunity of hearing it when travelling 

 in Tripoli, considers some of its notes like those of the Skylark : he 

 adds that he heard only the black-headed birds singing, and never 

 those with white heads. 



Regarding the nidification of S. leucopyga our knowledge is still 

 somewhat limited. I myself have no nest or eggs of the species, 

 nor do I know of any existing in collections. In his article on 

 D. monacha (" Expl. Scient. Alg. Ois." i, p. 200), Loche says the species 

 nests in the holes and crevices of rocks, building a loosely constructed 

 nest composed of leaves, rootlets and other plant materials, with a 

 lining of wool, hair, or feathers. The eggs, he says, number four at 

 the most, and are white, slightly more tinged with blue than the eggs 

 of S. leucura, and spotted with very small spots of a reddish-brown, 

 collected in a wreath at the larger end, their measurements being 

 22 X 17 mm. 



Dr. Koenig also gives some particulars regarding the nesting of this 



