242 ANNALS OF BIRD LIFE. 



which winter exclusively in the basin of the 

 Mediterranean, both in South Europe and North 

 Africa, but do not descend beyond the Atlas into 

 the oases of the Great Desert. 



By far the greater number of our smaller 

 migrants find their winter home in the country 

 lying between the southern slopes of the Atlas 

 and the equator. Some of the birds that retire to 

 this central zone winter in localities as yet un- 

 known to naturalists. Where the Nightingale, 

 the House Martin, the British examples of the 

 Sand Martin, and the Turtle Dove spend the time 

 that they are away from us remains to be dis- 

 covered ; it is some part of the Central Soudan, 

 and in the very remotest oases of the Great 

 Desert, where no white man has ever yet pene- 

 trated. There are several birds that not only 

 winter in the Mediterranean basin, but extend 

 their wanderings into the middle zone, which 

 reaches to the equator. These are the Whinchat, 

 among the Turdinae ; the Grasshopper Warbler, 

 the Blackcap, the Willow Wren, and the Chiff- 

 chaff among the Sylviinse ; and the Tree Pipit, 

 among the Motacillinae. All these species winter 

 in more or less abundance in the extreme south 

 of Europe, as well as in the African Continent 

 north of the equator. In all these birds, with the 

 exception of the Whinchat and the Tree Pipit,'" the 



* A few Whinchats and Tree Pipits breed on the mountains 

 of South Europe, in a similar climate to that of their usual 

 habitat further north. 



