8G Mr. J. J. S. Whitaker on some Tunisian Birds. 



My best thanks are due to Mr. E. Cavendish Taylor for 

 having kindly assisted me in identifying the birds^ of which 

 I add a list^ with accompanying field-notes. 



1. TURDUS MUSICUS. 



Very common about Kasrin. Djcbel Selloum simply 

 swarmed with them about the beginning of March^ and later 

 on, w^hen I visited this mountain a second time, towards the 

 end of March, they were still plentiful, although not so 

 numerous as before. No doubt the juniper and thuja berries, 

 of which there was an abundance here, formed the attraction. 

 At Feriana also, among the olive- groves, Thrushes were 

 plentiful, feeding on tlie wild olives. South of Feriana I do 

 not remember to have seen any. 



2. TuRDUS MERULA. 



Like the preceding species, the Blackbird, although far 

 less numerous, was common in the wooded districts we visited 

 north of Feriana. South of this town I do not remember 

 to have seen it. 



3. Saxicola mcesta, Licht. [S. pliUothamna, Tristr.) 



I found this rare and handsome Chat, both male and 

 female, fairly abundant about the middle of March on the 

 plains between Gafsa and Tamerza, but nowdiere else, so far 

 as I can recollect. I first saw it within two or three miles 

 of Gafsa, and it became more abundant as I went further 

 west towards Tamerza. It may, I think, be considered 

 strictly a desert bird, and probably never strays very far 

 north of the Sahara. Dr. Koenig, in his recent publication 

 on the Tunisian avifauna (J. f. O. 1892, p. 282), mentions 

 having met with it near Gabes, which lies in about the same 

 degree of latitude as the country where I found it. 



I generally found this species in pairs, the male at no 

 great distance from the female, and perching on the tops of 

 low bushes and shrubs. It is by no means a shy bird, and 

 will often allow one to approach Avithin a few yards before 

 taking flight. The male has a most melodious note, and I 

 often listened with pleasure to its short song. The speei- 



