166 BIRDS OF TUNISIA 



foliage. The tender flowering shoots of the ilex seem to have a par- 

 ticular attraction for this species, and although no doubt insectivorous 

 to a great extent, it is also very partial to fruit, and may constantly 

 be found in cherry orchards and mulberry-groves. 



The note or whistle of the Golden Oriole is melodious and flute- 

 like, and although not particularly loud, may be heard at a consider- 

 able distance. I have often listened to it with pleasure on a still 

 spring morning. The nest of this bird is quite a work of art, and 

 is nearly always to be found securely woven into and suspended 

 from the fork of a slender horizontal bough, generally at a consider- 

 able height from the ground, and inaccessible to any but its feathered 

 foes. I have one of these nests before me at the present moment, 

 which is composed chiefly of mosses and lichens, neatly bound 

 together with dry grass-blades, the whole being interwoven into 

 the fork of a small oak branch. The eggs, four in number, are of 

 a glossy white, with a few spots of deep purplish-brown. Their 

 measurements are 29 x 28 mm. 



Although not often seen as a cage-bird, the Golden Oriole is 

 easily domesticated, and is capable of becoming a most delightful and 

 charming pet. One of these birds, belonging to a friend of mine 

 living near Florence, Miss Lina Duff-Gordon, now Mrs. Aubrey 

 Waterfield, although only recently captured when I saw it, would 

 take a piece of biscuit or fruit from one's hand, and allow itself 

 to be petted and made much of. This bird, a fine male, lived through 

 a winter, in apparently excellent health, but died the following 

 spring. 



Family LANIIDAE. 



LANIUS ALGERIENSIS, Lesson. 



ALGERIAN GEEY SHRIKE. 



Lanius algeriensis, Lesson, Rev. Zool, 1839, p. 134 ; Gaclow, Cat. Birds 

 iJrit. 2Iiis. viii, p. 244 ; Loche, Expl. Sci. Alg. Ois. ii, p. 47 (1867) ; 

 Koenig, J.f. 0. 1888, p. 178 ; id. J.f. 0. 1892, p. .376 ; Whitakcr,IUs, 

 1895, p. 96 ; Erlanger, J.f. 0. 1899, p. 497. 



Lanius meridionalis, Maiherbe, Cat. Rais. d'Ois. Alg. p. 9 (1846). 



Description. — Adult male, spring, near Tunis, North Tunisia. 



Entire upper parts dark slate-grey, the scapulars tipped with white ; a 



