SCOTOGERCA 143 



orange-brown at the base : legs yellowish brown ; iris brown. Cul- 

 men 0*45, wing 1'85, tail 1'65, tarsus 0'75 inch. Sexes alike. 



Hob. Arabia Petrsea, and Palestine, through Transcaspia and 

 Persia to the west of the Indus. 



Frequents stony desert places both bare and bush-covered, 

 on the hills and plains, and is active and restless, tame and 

 unsuspicious. Its food consists of insects, which it picks up on 

 the ground and amongst the stones. Its call-note is harsh not 

 unlike that of the Crested Titmouse, and its song, which is 

 melodious, is somewhat Tit-like. It breeds in February or 

 March and places its nest, which is globular, with the entrance 

 hole on the side, constructed of dried grasses lined with plant- 

 down or feathers, in a low bush close above the ground, and 

 deposits 4 or 5 eggs, which are white, or pinky white, spotted 

 with reddish pink or dark red, and in some the spots are 

 collected and form a zone round the larger end. In size they 

 average about 0*64 by O49. 



202. ALGERIAN SCRUB-WARBLER. 

 SCOTOCERCA SAHARA. 



Scotocerca saharce (Loche), Eev.and Mag .de Zool. p.,395, 1858, pi. xi. fig, 2 ; 

 Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. vii. p. 214; Koenig, J. f. 0. 1892, p. 395, 

 tab. iii. ; id. J. f. 0. 1895, tab. xiii. (nest and eggs) ; Dresser, ix. 

 p. 103, pi. 653, fig. 1 ; D. striaticeps, Tristr. Ibis, 1859, p. 58. 



Ad. (Algeria). Differs from the preceding species in being warm isabel- 

 line where that species is brown ; bill pale brown, lighter and tinged with 

 orange at the base ; legs yellowish flesh ; iris brown. Culmen 0'4, 

 wing 1'75, tail 1'7, tarsus 0'75 inch. 



Hob. Algeria and Tunis ; in the Sahara or never far north of 

 it. 



In habits it does not differ much from that species but is said 

 to be shy timid and unobtrusive. Its nest which is placed in a 

 desert-bush, near the ground, is globular, constructed of fine 

 grasses, plant-stems and grass-roots interwoven with spiders' 

 webs, and lined with a few feathers ; and the eggs are white 

 with a dull gloss, spotted and blotched with dull red and with 

 a few pale lilac ground-markings, and in many specimens the 

 red spots are more numerous round the larger end. In size 

 they average about 0'65 by 0'50. 



