56 BIKDS OF TUNISIA 



species and its fledglings, although he was not fortunate enough to 

 find its eggs (/. /. 0. 1895, p. 396). According to him, two eggs 

 appear to form the usual complement, and of these, often one egg 

 only is hatched. This, however, is contrary to what usually obtains 

 among birds of this family, and, to say the least, seems unnatural. 

 Henglin (" Orn. N. 0. Afr." i, p. 359) gives three or four as the usual 

 number of a brood of this Cliat, and says the colour of bits of egg- 

 shells found by him was a uniform pale green. Dr. Koenig says 

 the nests he found of the species were placed very low down in holes 

 and clefts of rocks. 



SAXICOLA LEUCURA (Gmelin). 

 BLACK CHAT. 



Turdus leucurus, Gvielin, Syst. Nat. i, p. 820 (1788). 



Saxicola leucura, SecboJim, Cat. Birds Brit. Miis. v, p. 375 ; Whitakcr, 



Ibis, 1891, p. 87. 

 S. cachinnans, Mallicrbc, Cat. Rais. d'Ois. Alg. p. 11 (1816). 

 Dromolsea leucura, Locke, Expl. Sci. Alg. Ois. i, p. 197 (1867) ; Koenig, 



J. f. 0. 1893, p. 21 ; Erlawjcr, J. f. 0. 1899, p. 237. 



Description. — Adult male, spring, from Kasrin, Central Tunisia. 



Entire body, with the exception of the upper and lower tail-coverts, of 

 a rich smoke-black ; wings dark brown ; tail-coverts pure white ; the two 

 central rectrices white on tlie basal third, otherwise black; the remaining 

 rectrices white, broadly tipped with black. 



Iris very dark brown ; bill and feet black. 



Total length 7 inches, wing 3 80, culmen -70, tarsus 1. 



Adult female, spring, from Kasrin, Central Tunisia. 



General colour smoke-brown, otherwise like the male. Soft parts as in 

 the male ; measurements slightly less. 



This Chat is apparently closely allied to the Eock-Thrushes, and 

 seems to form a connecting link between the two genera Monticola 

 and Saxicola. It is a question, indeed, whether it and the preceding 

 species should not be generically separated from the other Chats under 

 the name of Dromolcea. 



S. leucura is, I think, the most universally distributed Chat 

 resident in Tunisia, occurring generally throughout the Eegency, 



