242 



Min. 21.1 X 16.3 and 25 X 15.7. A dwarf in the Cambridge Museum 

 is only 16x13.5 mm. Rey gives the average weight as 208 mg. 



[BRACHYPODIDAE. 



Dusky Bull)ul, Pyenonotus barbatus (Desf.) 



Eggs: Baedeker, Tab. 76, fig. 15. Dresser, pi. — , fig. 1,2. 



Pyenonotus barbatus (Desf.). Dresser, Birds of Europe, III, p. 353; id. Man. 

 Pal. Birds, p. 222. P. barbatus barbatus (Desf.). Hartert, VOg. Pal. Fauna, p. 460. 



Breeding Range: Marocco, Algeria and Tunis. Doubtfully recorded from 

 S. Spain. 



The range of this bird appears to extend further S. in Marocco than in Algeria 

 or Tunis, where it is confined to the coutry X. of. the Atlas. It breeds in low trees 

 or in large bushes, building a nest of roots, grasses, etc., with creeping plants woven 

 into the exterior and lined with finer roots. Near the coast of Marocco it haunts 

 gardens and orange groves, but in the Atlas it occurs in the moist woods up to 

 7000 ft., and in the scrub covered hills of Tunis. The eggs are 3—4 in number, 

 thin shelled, pinkish white in ground colour, irregularly marked with deep red-brown 

 and varying shades of purplish grey over the whole surface. The breeding season 

 is rather late, and eggs may be found in the latter part of May and in June. 

 Average size of 17 eggs measured by the writer, 24.35 X 16.91 mm, Max 26 X 17.2 

 and 24.6 X 18.5, Min. 22.1 X 17 and 24 X 16.4. 



In middle Egypt another very distinct race, P. barbatus arsinoe (Licht.) re- 

 places this form, and in Palestine from the Taurus to the Sinai peninsula, a second 

 species, the Palestine Bulbul, P. capensis xanthopygos (H. & E.), is found in gardens 

 and wooded districts. Eggs: Plate 36, fig. 5—8 (Beirut); J. f. 0., 1879, Taf. 1, 

 fig. 4, 5; Dresser, pi. — , fig. 3, 4; Cat. Eggs. Br. Mus. Ill, pi. X, fig. 19 (var.). 

 This bird was formerly erroneously supposed to occur in the Grreek Archipelago. 

 The small and neatly built nest is placed on the fork of a tree and covered exter- 

 nally so as to match the adjoining bark. The eggs, 3 — 4 in number, are variable in 

 colouring, but are generally spotted and streaked irregularly with chocolate red, 

 shading into crimson, and underlying purple grey on a greyish white ground. Some 

 eggs have very bold blotches of colour, while the egg figured in the Br. Mus. Cat. 

 Eggs has the dark markings altogether wanting and is covered with dense lilac mott- 

 lings. The breeding season is early, for some have already young in March, while 

 others do not lay till late in April. Average size of 45 eggs (20 by the writer, 

 17 by Key, and 8 by Le Roi, Hartert and MuUer), 24.14 X 16.82 mm., Max. 28.8 X 17.1 

 and 25.1X17.7, Min. 21.8X16.6 and 23X15. Average weight, 173 mg. (Rey); 

 183 mg. (Le Roi, 3 eggs).] 



MUSCICAPIDAE 



^including Sylviidae, Turdidae and Timeliidae). 



109. Spotted Flycatcher, Muscicapa striata (Pall.). 



Plate 37, fig. 7—14 (Germany): 41, fig. 9 (Anhalt, 2. VII. 70). 



Eggs: Thienemann, Fortpfl. Tab. XXIX, fig. 7, a — c. Hewitson, 

 I. Ed. I, pi. VIII, fig. 2, 3; II. Ed. I, pi. XVI, fig. 1; III. Ed. I, 



