58 BIEDS OF TUNISIA 



The nesting time of .S. Iciicura varies considerablj", not onlj' 

 according to the locality, but also according to the climatic conditions 

 of the season, and in the south of Tunisia I have sometimes met with 

 young birds of about six weeks old at the beginning of April. As a 

 rule, though, nesting commences about the beginning of March in the 

 south and the middle or end of that month in the north. The site 

 selected by the Black Chat for its nest is generally a cleft or crevice 

 in the rock, but often merely a hole under a tussock of grass or other 

 plant on the mountain-side is utilised. The nest, which is not as a 

 rule placed deep down in the hole, is rather a bulky structure, com- 

 posed of coarse grass, and neatly and plentifully lined with hair and 

 wool. The eggs, of which the normal complement is four or five. 

 appear to vary in colouring, being sometimes of a delicate white, at 

 others of a light greenish colour, spotted sparsely with lake-brown 

 shell-markiugs and reddish surface-spots, generally forming a zone at 

 the blunt end. Average measurements '24 x 17 mm. 



This Chat seems to be in the habit of protecting the entrance to 

 its nest by erecting a wall of small stones, but I have found nests 

 without any such barriers, which, after all, could not afford any real 

 protection against reptiles or other natural enemies of the bird, and 

 I think it more probable that the wall may be constructed as a pro- 

 tection agamst the inclemencies of the weather. 



PRATINCOLA RUBETRA, (LiuDieus). 

 WHIN -CHAT. 



Motacilla rubetra, Linn. Si/sl. Nat. i. p. 332 (1766). 



Pratincola rubetra, Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. iv. 179 ; Loche, Expl. 



Sci. Aly. Ois. p. 211 (1867) ; Kocnig, J. f. 0. 1888, p. 206; id. J. f. 0. 



1892, p. 113 ; Whitaker, Ibis, 1895, p. 94 ; Erkmger, J. f. 0. 1899, 



p. 218. 

 Saxicola (Fruticicola) rubetra, Malherbe, Cat. Bais. d'Ois. ALj. p. 11 



(1816). 

 Pratincola rubetra spatzi, Erlanger, J. f. 0. 1900, p. 101. 



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



Entire upper parts mottled, the feathers being buff, with clearly defined 

 black centres, rather greyer on the crown and nape, and brighter on the 

 back and rump ; a conspicuous white stripe extending from the bill over 



