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216 BIRDS OP TUNISIA 



The Algerian Chaffinch never appears to have strayed across 

 the Straits of Gibraltar, or to have been found in Spain, and the species 

 has every right to be considered as peculiar to North-west Africa. 

 I may, however, here mention that the Florence Natural History 

 Museum possesses an undoubted male specimen of F. spocUogenys, 

 which was taken by a local bird-catcher in a net at Santa Lucia, near 

 Prato in Tuscany, on December 2nd, 1895, and presented to the above 

 Museum by Dr. Enrico Azzolini. Its Museum number is 3,615. In 

 its habits generally F. spodiogenys resembles our European Chaffinch, 

 and I cannot say that I have noticed much difference in its song, 

 although its notes may perhaps be a little harsher and not so clear 

 as those of F. coelebs. To be able to judge properly, however, one 

 should hear individuals of the two species singing together, or one 

 almost immediately after the other. In any case, however, the bright 

 call notes of the Algerian Chaffinch and its cheery short song fall 

 as pleasantly on the ear in the North African woodlands as do the 

 familiar notes of its European congener at home, and they form no 

 slight contribution to the wealth of bird music to be heard in some of 

 those districts during the spring and early summer months. This 

 Chaffinch thrives well in confinement, and examples of it may often be 

 seen in cages in Tunis and other towns of the Regency. Seeds of 

 various kinds seem to be the principal food of the species, but insects 

 also enter largely into its diet. 



The nesting season of F. spodiogenys in Southern and Central 

 Tunisia commences soon after the middle of March and is continued 

 well into May. In the north of the Eegency it is somewhat later. 

 In the olive-groves of the Gafsa oasis I have found many nests 

 during the first fortnight of April, some with fresh eggs, others with 

 fledglings in them. The nests are placed as a rule in the fork of a 

 bough, at a height of from eight to sixteen feet from the ground, 

 and resemble those of our European Chaffinch in being cup-shaped 

 and neatly and compactly built, but they are somewhat larger, and 

 composed externally of dry bents and grasses of a greyish colour, 

 which no doubt harmonises better with the grey boughs and foliage 

 of the olive-tree. 



Interwoven into the nest are pieces of wool and cotton-threads, 

 and occasionally also a bit of blue cotton-stuff, probably picked up 

 near some Arab tent ; the interior is neatly lined with hair and 

 feathers. The eggs, usually rather larger than those of the Common 



