78 BIRDS OF TUNISIA 



Its song, if such it can be called, is poor, and composed of merely 

 a few harsh notes. Its alarm note is more often to be heard, parti- 

 cularlj' during the breeding season, when, on its nest being approached, 

 the bird becomes very clamorous, and shows great resentnrent at the 

 intrusion. Far from being shy, the Whitethroat often seems actually 

 to court observation, rising from a bush into the air and hovering 

 over it immediately in front of one. Occasionally, however, it skulks 

 among thick bushes, and is then not easily detected. 



The cup-shaped nest of this species, usually to be found in or at 

 the root of a low bush, is a neat structure, composed of fine grasses, 

 and lined with hair. The eggs, four to six in number, are of a 

 greenish-white colour, spotted and marked with grey and light brown, 

 chiefly at the blunt end. Average measurements 17 x 13 mm. 



SYLYIA CURRUCA (LiniiEeus). 

 LESSER WHITETHEOAT. 



Motacilla curruca, Linn. Si/st. Nat. i, p. 329 (1766). 



SylYia curruca. Scop. Ann. i, p. 155 (1769) ; Seebohm, Cat. Birds Brit. 

 Mus. V, p. 16; Mallierhe, Cat. JRais. d'Ois. Alg. p. 11 (1846); Loche, 

 Expl. Sci. Alg. Ois. i, p. 239(1867) ; Koenig, J. f. 0., 1888, pp. 190, 

 195 ; id. J. f. 0. 1892, pp. 889, 397 ; Whitaher, Ibis, 1895, p. 94. 



Description. — Adult male, from Algeria. 



Forehead and crown slate-grey, darker on the lores and ear-coverts ; 

 rest of upper parts greyish-brown ; quills blackish-brown, most of the 

 feathers slightly margined with grey ; tail blackish -brown, the two outer- 

 most feathers with the outer web white ; chin and throat white ; rest of 

 the underparts white, tinged with vinous. 



Total length 4-50 inches, wing 2-60, culmen -40, tarsus -75. 



Iris white ; bill blackish ; feet lead colour. 



Adult female resembles the male, but is duller in colouring. 



The Lesser Whitethroat, although more or less rare in the 

 Regency, apparently occurs there occasionally, and according to 

 Malherbe, Loche, Canon Tristram, and Mr. C. Dixon, is also met 

 with in Algeria. A specimen of it obtained by Loche in Algeria, 

 which I have examined, exists in the Turati Collection of the Milan 

 Museum, under the No. 17,566. I know of no instance of the 



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