C)4 BIRDS OF TUNISIA 



"maqnis" description common to the Atlas regions, thuja, juniper, 

 rosemary and lavender being among the most conspicuous plants, all 

 flourishing in a luxuriant tangle, and occasionally intermixed with a 

 forest growth of Aleppo-pines. The species, however, may often be 

 found at considerable altitudes, and in the districts it frequents, it 

 is probably to be met with as high as vegetation occurs. On the 

 Dj-Sen:ama in Central Tunisia I found it nesting at about 5,000 feet 

 above sea-level. D. motissieri is generally to be found in pairs, and 

 in certain favoured localities several pairs may be met with within a 

 very limited area. It is a shy, timid little bird, and does its best to 

 hide on the approach of a person or on the first sign of any danger, 

 although the bright plumage of tlie male and the natural restlessness 

 of the bird render detection comparatively easy. The males are more 

 often to be seen than the females, owing partly to their conspicuous 

 plumage, and partly to their more inquisitive or watchful habits 

 inducing them to perch on the outside of a bush, while the females 

 keep more to the inside and lower parts. The species has a soft and 

 rather pretty little song, and its call or alarm note may often be 

 heard. The Arab name for this bird, " Zinzuck," is said to be 

 derived from the note or cry it utters. The food of this species is 

 probably almost entirely composed of insects. The nesting of 

 D. moiissierl commences early in April, and by the middle of that 

 month eggs may be found. The nest is generally placed on the 

 ground, at the foot of a bush or tuft of grass, and occasionally in a 

 shrub close to the ground. It is rather a bulky structure, composed 

 exteriorly of fine twigs and dry grasses, with a lining of hair and 

 feathers. The eggs, usually four or five in number, are, as a rule, 

 of a very pale bluish-white, and spotless, but they seem to be subject 

 to considerable variation, being sometimes of a greenish-blue, and at 

 others almost pure white. Their average measurements are 18 x 

 14 mm. The parent birds, when nesting, seem to be more shy 

 than at any other time, and I recollect on one occasion waiting vainly 

 for nearly an hour for one or both of a pair to return to their nest, 

 near which I was hidden, as I thought, well out of sight. 



The accompanying plate shows a pair of this species, in spring 

 plumage, from Central Tunisia. 



