MOxNTICOLA CYAN US. 37 



numbers, frequenting daily the same spots, and attracting 

 considerable notice both from their melodious song and con- 

 spicuous habits. 



I here repeat a note made about their nesting, which has 

 already appeared in Dresser's account of this species : " A pair 

 nested in a hole outside the wall of my stable at Gibraltar 

 in June 1869. Five eggs were laid, which were hatched about 

 the 20th. The nest, composed of small dried bits of roots, 

 was very scanty and ill put together. When the young were 

 hatched, I broke through the wall from the inside of the stable 

 to the nest, making the hole large enough to admit a small cage, 

 in which I placed the nest and young ; and then hung an old 

 coat over the inside hole, so as to shut out the light from the 

 inside, cutting a small slit in the coat through which to watch 

 the old birds feeding their young within six inches distance. 

 Both birds fed them, at intervals of not more than five minutes. 

 The food consisted almost entirely of centipedes (Scolopendrce), 

 with now and then a large spider or bluebottle fly by way of 

 change. Where they could have found so many centipedes it is 

 difficult to imagine, as they are insects which lie hid all day 

 under stones &c. The head was always bitten off, and the 

 insect so mangled as to be quite dead. Two of the five young 

 died in the cage, from the old birds not being able to get at 

 them. Of the other three, only one attained maturity, living 

 till October, when, to my great regret, he went the way of all 

 pets. He was very tame, and of most engaging habits and 

 disposition in fact, what the Spaniards call ' simpatico.' In 

 his early days he was fed on bread and bruised snails ; later on 

 he had more fruit, which possibly killed him. 



"The Blue Rock-Thrush very often perches on trees, and at 

 Gibraltar and Tangier is frequently seen on the house-tops, 

 though generally observed on bare rocky ground. They are 

 sometimes found in wooded places, if there are any high rocks ; 

 for instance, a pair nested at the first waterfall near Algeciraz, 



