26 Mr. E. Hargitt on the Genus Gecinus, 



scarlet; the olive markings on the ahdoraeUj thighs, and 

 under tail-coverts almost obsolete. Total length 11 "3 inches, 

 culmen 1'45, wing 6, tail 4'05, tarsus 1. 



The younger female has the forehead and crown black, 

 without any tinge of green, the bases of the feathers showing 

 grey ; the face less tinged with green ; the dark markings on 

 the under tail-coverts broader and darker, and the tail- 

 feathers less distinctly barred. 



The range of this African species appears to be very 

 limited, and is confined, so far as we know, to the northern 

 parts of Morocco and Algiers as far as the Tunisian frontier. 

 Mr. Tyrwhitt Drake observed it at Tangiers and on the 

 Tetuan mountains ; and I have in my collection several spe- 

 cimens jjrocured for me near Tangiers by Signor Olcese. Mr. 

 Salvin, in his "Five Months^ Birds^-nesting in the Eastern 

 Atlas ^•' (Ibis, 1859, p. 315), supplies us with the following 

 notes: — ^' It is not uncommon in districts where there are 

 large trees. I met with it on several occasions ; and a nest 

 of seven eggs, with the old bird, was brought to us by 

 an Arab. These eggs appear, on comparison, decidedly 

 smaller than those of our own familiar species.^^ According 

 to Canon Tristram, G. vaillanti appears to be abundant 

 in the neighbourhood of La Calle, Eastern Algeria, and 

 Dr. Taczanowski, in his " List of the Birds of Constantine ^' 

 (J. f. O. 1870, p. 40), a translation of which was contributed 

 by Mr. J. H. Gurney, Jun., to the 'Zoologist' for 1871 

 (p. 2579), writes: — "Like our Green Woodpeckers, not 

 plentiful ; yet they might be met with in the woods every- 

 where. A male shot by Count Constantin Branicki, near 

 Larabessa, had a few red feathers on the cheeks." On 

 the Tunisian frontier this species and its eggs have been 

 obtained by my friend JNI. Arcade Noury, and kindly lent to 

 me for comparison. It is very probable that the present 

 species does not penetrate far into Tunis, as examples from 

 that country are wanting. Drummond does not include it 

 in his " List of Birds found iu the vicinity of Tunis and 

 Biserta'^ (Ann. Nat. Hist. 1845, p. 102). 



