56 JOTTINGS ABOUT BIRDS. 



247. THE LINNET Linota cannabina (Linnaeus), 

 is a resident in Algeria, confined probably to the 

 Tell, and breeding on the northern slopes of the 

 Atlas. I met with this species in the Djebel 

 Aures above Lambessa, where it was very 

 common. 



248. THE BRAMBLTNG Fringilla montifringilla, 

 Linnaeus, is an occasional winter visitor to Algeria, 

 usually in severe seasons. 



249. THE ALGERIAN CHAFFINCH Fringilla spodio- 

 gena, Bonaparte, is another species peculiar to 

 Algeria (and Morocco), and principally confined to 

 the mountain woodlands. I remarked its general 

 abundance in the Djebel Aures, especially round 

 Batna and Lambessa. The note of this species is 

 very different from that of the Common Chaffinch, 

 more resembling that of the House Sparrow 

 (Passer domesticus). The song too is different. 

 Otherwise the habits of the two species are very 

 similar. The nest is built in just such another 

 situation as that of the English bird. I found 

 a nest of the Algerian Chaffinch scarcely completed 

 on the 1 2th of May, in the evergreen oak forests. 

 It was built in a small oak, about ten feet from 

 the ground, in a fork, almost buried in the lichen 

 which drapes most of the timber in this region. 



