(4ft ) 

 27. Lanius excubitor elegans Swains. 



Cf. Nnv. Znnl xviii. p. 500. 



Common from south of Biskra to Touggourt, auJ thence south to Ngonssa, 

 north of Oiiargla. We do not remember having seen Grey Shrikes at Onargla, and 

 none are found .southwards, not even in tlie Sonthern Onod Mya region. In the 

 lii'd of Oned ol-Abiodh, north of In-Sahih, an old nest was found which h)oked like 

 a Shrike's nest, but there were no Shrikes near there this year. North of El-fiulea 

 bushes of Zizi/pliuii lotus appeared again for the first time in great lu.xnriance on 

 iVIay 23 between Oued Saadana aud Hassi el-Hadadra, 145 km. south of Ghardaiu, 

 and with tlie Zizyjilins began at once Lanius /■xcul/itor elff/a/ts. These Shrikes had 

 here partly half-grown young in the nest, partly young fiying aliout and taking 

 oare of themselves. They might make two broods here, but maybe that the 

 late broods are only due to loss of the first ones. These Shrikes were very common 

 at Scliseb, .'tl km. south of Ghardaia, in Metlili, (ihardaia, Gnerrara, and very 

 numerous in the bed of the Oued Nea. 



The first clutches of eggs (five each; were found m-ar Bordj ('hegga, 

 February 22, in Zizyphns bushes. An egg was cut out of a female at Toug- 

 gourt on February 27. A clutch ol' five was found in a lictam at Arefidji, 

 March fi. 



This Grey Shrike, when singing, is oficn a very good iniitntur of otiier birds' 

 calls and songs. 



28. * Lanius senator senator L. 



Of. Xin: Ziiii!. .wiii. p. .')0I. 



This bird breeds in Northern Algeria, and we did not find it nesting in the 

 Sahara. We first ol)served it in I01-(iolea. .March 27, and henceforth it was a 

 common migrant wherever bushes aud trees were found. On the retnrn journey 

 these Shrikes were observed in smaller numbers, generally only one or two, here 

 and there, as late as May Ki, at El-Golea. A single male was seen on June 5 in 

 the Oued Ni;a, and after that none were observed. 



In Biskra we did not ct)me across the Hed-headed Shrike in June, aud we 

 therefore doubt if it breeds there — at least in the oasis itself. 



The outer tail-feather is sometimes ipiite white. The Tring Museum has such 

 a male shot at Lanibese on .June 'i by Mr. Fliickiger, and I shot another at Fort 

 Miribel on April 4. Sometimes the black anteapical patch occupies at least half 

 the feather, sometimes it is reduced to a smidl spot. 



29. "Muscicapa coUaris Bechst. 



MKscinijui nilliii-is Bechatein, Gfiininn. .Wiliiri/. Uii<Ik,I,I. iv. p. 4',lo (ITlIu— " Europa uml Deutsch- 

 land : in den tiefeu (lebirgen des Thiiringerwaldea noch am liiiiifigaten. ' Terra typica : 

 Tliiiringerwald). 



cjad. Hassi Marroket, south of El-Golea, 11. v. I'.il2. 



c?ad. El-Golea, 13. v. I'.il2. 



This bird has not been met with by recent explorers, though Loche stated that 

 it was widely distributed in Algeria, and ^\'hitaker records it as a regular "summer 

 migrant" in Tunisia. 



It is donbtless only a bird of passage in N.W. Africa, but probably as regular 

 a migrant iu Algeria as in Tunisia. 



