THE BIRDS OF ALGERIA. 7 



The shrubs are occupied by the Shrike, by small 

 flocks of the long-tailed Numidian Malurus, and the 

 lovely little Moussier's Warbler, whom I might 

 almost term the ornithological feature of the dayat ; 

 whilst, heard but not seen, the Dartford Warbler 

 chirps forth his incessant pittechou, pittechou. If 

 you wish to make acquaintance with the tribe of 

 the Rockchats and Wheatears, you must follow the 

 marmots to the rocky defiles of extinct streams, 

 the ' Weds ' of the Bedouin. The hard, gravelly 

 plains are the homes of the Sand Grouse, and the 

 various thick- billed and stout-billed Larks ; while 

 the loose sands vainly conceal the burrowing beetles 

 from the long bills of the Ground-Larks. On the 

 surface of the chotts the little Plovers and other 

 Grallatores incessantly run along, as if awaiting the 

 returning tide of the primeval ocean which once 

 swept over them." 



So far the winter features of the Sahara ; but 

 with the return of spring a great change comes 

 over the scene. True the various endemic species 

 of the Desert remain behind, but the Warblers and 

 the Bush chats, the Eagles and the Plovers, retire 

 far to the north, many to cross the Mediterranean 

 -to European haunts. The temperature becomes 

 too high for the various local and vertical migrants, 



