N. F. TICEHURST: THE BLACK WHEATEAR. 291 



of Tripoli. Further east than this it does not occur. 

 Over a great part of its breeding-area this species is 

 a resident, though probably a number of those which 

 breed in southern Europe cross over to north Africa for 

 the winter. 



The Black Wheatear is essentially a mountain and rock- 

 loving species, and is only abundant in the most arid 

 rock-strewn districts, and almost every rocky valley and 

 ravine in central Tunis is said to contain its pair of Black 

 Chats. In habits it much resembles the Rock-Thrushes, 

 and seems to form a connecting link between the two 

 genera Monticola and Saxicola. The nest is one which is 

 unusually hard to find, and is generally situated in a 

 cranny or hole amongst rocks or in the wall of a cave, 

 seldom at any considerable distance from the entrance, 

 though nests under a tuft of grass on the mountain-side 

 are not uncommon. The foundation is built of small 

 pebbles collected by the birds themselves, and when the 

 nest is situated in a more than usually open cranny, 

 a small protecting wall of pebbles is built across the open 

 side of the nest, from which peculiar habit the bird 

 derives its common Spanish name of " Pedrero" or 

 Stonemason. One such nest examined by Colonel 

 Willoughby Verner was defended by a wall 9 inches long 

 and 2\ inches high, composed of no less than 282 stones 

 of all sizes, from a walnut to a pea ; the foundation of the 

 nest was composed of 76 larger stones, the largest of 

 which weighed 2 ozs., the total weight of all the stones 

 being 4| lbs. The nest itself is somewhat bulky, and is 

 composed of coarse grass, neatly and plentifully lined 

 with hair and wool. 



The eggs, which number four or five, vary in colouring 

 from a delicate white to light greenish, spotted sparsely 

 with lake-brown shell-markings and reddish surface- 

 spots, generally forming a zone at the blunt end. Average 

 measurements 242 by 17'6 mm. 



The adult male is black and the female brownish-black 

 all over, with the exception of the upper and under tail- 



