FRINGILLARIA SAHARA 229 



country in 1901, but I cannot help thinking that the species must 

 occur there also in certain districts. 



In Algeria, as in Tunisia, F. saharce is abundant in some of the 

 oases, but not in all of them. At Biskra I found it very plentiful 

 in the old part of the village, " Vieux Biskra " as it is called, which is 

 quite in the oasis, and where the mud-hovels of the Arabs, and the 

 surroundings generally, are more suited to the bird's requirements than 

 the modem French town that has sprung up of late years. 



From Marocco I have specimens of the House-Bunting obtained at 

 the city of Marocco, where the species appears to be abundant. These 

 examples are slightly darker in coloration than birds from Tunisia 

 and Algeria. Mr. Meade-Waldo found F. saharce locally common 

 throughout the Maroccan Atlas, and breeding in most of the Kasbahs, 

 or forts, up to about 4,000 feet. At one place (Djebel Bourzegan) it was 

 nesting in rocks far removed from any human dwellings. 



In the Tunisian Eegency F. saliane is somewhat local in its 

 distribution, being extremely abundant in certain places and entirely 

 wanting in others close by. At Gafsa the species is very common, and 

 I have notes of its occurrence at many places south of that town, such 

 as Bir-Mrabot, Kebilli, Douz, Bir-Abdullah, Tamerzed, Douirat, and 

 Tatahouine ; at the last-mentioned place, however, I am told it is 

 rather rare. Eminently a house-bird, the species is generally to be 

 found in the vicinity of buildings, but occasionally it occurs in the 

 open country at a considerable distance from human habitations. In 

 the spring of 1902 I found several of these birds in the cliffs bordering 

 the ravine through which the Oued Seldja flows when issuing from 

 the chain of mountains lying to the north of Metlaoui and Tozer. 

 Here a colony of the birds had evidently established itself, as I met 

 with both adults and young, the latter full-grown and on the wing by 

 the middle of April. I may here observe, however, that the breeding 

 season of that year was an exceptionally early one, owing probably to 

 the winter immediately preceding it having been an extremely mild 

 one, with little or no rain or inclement weather. It would be difficult to 

 find a wilder spot, or one in greater contrast to the neighbourhood of a 

 town or village, than this embouchure of the Oued Seldja, where 

 the river leaves the savage mountain fastnesses and loses itself in 

 the expanse of sandy desert stretching away for miles southwards. 

 According to Baron Erlanger (/./. 0. 1899, p. 460), F. saharce also 

 occurs on the Djebel Tfel, and one or two other mountains near Gafsa. 



