66 BIRDS OF TUNISIA 



singly or in pairs. It is a bright, active bird, constantly in evidence, 

 as it flits from bush to bush along a pathway or woodside, and one 

 cannot fail to recognise it by its conspicuously marked tail, the bright 

 colouring of which has given rise to the bird's trivial name in most 

 languages. Shy and restless to a degree, the Eedstart seems to be in 

 perpetual motion, and even when perching cannot keep still, but dips 

 its body and flicks its tail up and down incessantly. The food of this 

 species seems to be almost entirely of an insect nature, and the bird 

 exhibits great dexterity in catching flies on the wing. It is rather a 

 silent bird, but its short song is considered to be fairly pleasing. 



RUTICILLA TITYS (Scopoli). 

 BLACK EEDSTART. 



Sylvia tithys, Scoj). Ann. i, p. 157 (1769) ; Malherbe, Cat. Rais. d'Ois. 



Alg. p. 11 (1846). 

 Ruticilla tithys, Seebohm, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. v, p. 339 ; Loche, 



Expl. Sci. Alg. Ois. i, p. 217 (1867) ; Koeuig, J. f. 0. 1888, p. 203 ; 



id. J.f. 0. 1892, p. 404; Wiitakcr, Ibis, 1894, p. 88; Erlatujer, J.f. 0. 



1899, p. 216. 



Description. — Adult male, spring, from El-Guettar, South Tunisia. 



Crown, nape, back, scapulars and upper wing-coverts bluish-slate ; 

 wings greyish-brown, the secondaries broadly margined with white on the 

 outer webs ; rump, upper tail-coverts and tail, with the exception of the 

 two central feathers, rich rust colour, the two central rectrices brown ; lores, 

 frontal band, eye-region, ear-coverts, throat, neck and breast black ; flanks 

 and sides of the body pale slate ; centre of abdomen whitish ; under tail- 

 coverts orange. 



Iris dark brown ; bill and feet black. 



Total length 5-75 inches, wing 3-30, culmen -45, tarsus -90. 



Adult female, spring, from North Tunisia. 



Plumage much greyer thau in the male, the black being replaced by 

 grey-brown, and the breast and underparts being grey throughout. 



Iris dark brown ; bill and feet brown. 



Measurements slightly less than in the male. 



The Black Eedstart occurs in Tunisia in winter and spring, and 

 is not uncommon in some parts of the Regency, although never so 

 abundant during the latter season as the preceding species. In the 



