nal 
exliv 
is very instructive: the Palm-dove (Streptopelia senegalensis) 
occurring in the oases of the Sahara as a subspecies, S. s. 
phoenicola, is of West African origin. If this bird had reached 
Biskra and El Kantara from Senegambia across the Sahara, 
we should expect it to be found in all the oases of the desert. 
Its distribution, however, is different. The bird occurs only 
in the NORTHERN oases of the Sahara and does not go further 
south than Ouargla, being absent from the oases of the Central 
Sahara. This distribution shows clearly that the species 
travelled north in the Atlantic district and then extended east 
and south. ‘The Guinea-fowl of Morocco, Numida sabyi, came 
the same way along the west coast. The commonest Reptiles 
and Amphibians of the Tell occur also in Europe, such as the 
Smooth Snake, the beautiful Lacerta ocellata, the Gecko, 
Rana esculenta and Hyla arborea. The number of species of 
insects which do not go south of the Tell except in Eastern 
Algeria, where the Tell is less well defined than in the centre, 
is considerable, and their affinities, particularly among the 
butterflies, are for the most part with Spanish forms. But 
affinities with Egypt in the east and Sicily, Sardinia and 
Corsica in the north are not absent in insects. As regards 
Coleoptera, we may mention that the genus Carabus does not 
occur in Algeria except in the Tell and Northern High Plateaux. 
The commonest species, which may be met with even in 
Mustapha Supérieur, is Carabus morbillosus, also found in 
Sicily and Italy. Nebria complanata, a West European 
carabid, occurring in Great Britain, is common at Alger, 
Purpuricenus desfontainesi, Steraspis squamosa and Cleonus 
clathratus point to Egypt and Syria. Of the Lepidoptera * 
confined in Algeria to the zone of the Tell I here give a selection 
(I omit Geometridae, Pyrales and “ Micros,” which I have not 
worked out as yet): Thais rumina mauretanica, Aporia crataegi 
mauretanica, Pieris napi atlantica, Charaxes jason, Polygonia 
c-album and egea, Melitaea desfontainei (West Algeria), Melitaea 
cinvia (West Algeria), Epinephele janiroides, Coenonympha 
fettigi, Sphinx ligustri nissent, Sph. pinastri, Haemorrhagia 
fuciformis, Zygaena seriziati, Z. theryi, Phalera bucephala 
* Cf. Nov. Zool., xxiv, p. 61 ff. (1917). 
Ya = Va. 
a 
