THE BIRDS OF ALGERIA. 49 



flocks. Canon Tristram also remarks its gre- 

 garious habits, and mentions that towards evening 

 at Laghouat he noticed long files of Ravens return- 

 ing to their roosting-places in the desert. I have 

 reason to believe that this Raven also breeds in 

 colonies. 



209. THE HOODED CROW Corvus comix, Linnaeus, 

 is a somewhat rare winter visitor to Algeria. 



210. THE ROOK Corvus Jrugilegus y Linnaeus, is an 

 accidental visitor to Algeria in winter. 



211. THE JACKDAW Corvus monedula, Linnaeus, 

 is a somewhat local but in certain districts a very 

 common resident in Algeria. Canon Tristram 

 remarked its abundance in the rocky gorges of the 

 Sahara sub-region ; whilst I found it common in 

 the rocks at Constantine, and less frequent in the 

 cedar forests west of Batna. 



212. THE MOORISH MAGPIE Pica mauritanica, 

 Malherbe, is a resident, and widely distributed 

 throughout the wooded districts. It is closely allied 

 to the Common Magpie of Europe, distinguished 

 by a large patch of blue skin behind the eye, and 

 by the absence of gray from the rump. Examples, 

 however, from the Alpuxarras mountains in Southern 

 Spain are said to be intermediate between Pica can- 

 data and P. mauritanica. 



E 



