MOUSSIEB'S BED START. 87 



■whicli are white 'with, the faintest tinge of greenish blue, only indicate 

 its connexion with the whole group, including the Wheatears; and as 

 in the case of the eggs of Saxicola o&nanthe, I have no doubt that 

 spotted varieties occur. On observing the eggs of the Saxicolce and 

 Ruticillce mentioned in this paper, an intimate relationship can be 

 traced between the whole. In the first instance, take the richly- 

 coloured and highly marked eggs of S. leucura, S. aurita, and S. 

 stapazina, all of which are greenish blue, with decided spots of red 

 brown; next to them I would place those of 8. ruhretra, which are 

 similarly marked, but not so deeply; then those of S. rubicola, which 

 are also spotted, but more indistinctly; next follow the pale delicately- 

 coloured eggs of S. oenanthe, in which a tendency to spotted variegation 

 is not unfrequently noticeable; then come the eggs of i?. phcejiicura, 

 among which spotted varieties occur, but not so commonly as in the 

 preceding. Those of R. Moussieri, with their just traceable colouring, 

 follow next in succession; and lastly those of R. tithys, which, though 

 white, and differing widely from the well-marked eggs of S. leucura, 

 can still be connected with the series through the medium of S. 

 cenanthe and R. Moussieri.'''' 



Mr. J. H. Gurney throws still further light upon its habits in his 

 paper in the "Ibis" for 1871, "On the Ornithology of Algeria." Mr. 

 Gurney met with it at Miliana, which is farther north than Canon 

 Tristram has assigned its range in Western Algeria. At Guelt el 

 Stel it became plentiful. " R. Moussieri,''^ continues Mr. Gurney, *^is 

 a shorter, stouter bird than R. plicBiiicura, hence it cannot hop or 

 fly near so quickly except when pursued. I think its flight is even 

 slower than a Stonechat's, and it seldom flies far without perching 

 on a stone, clod, or small bush, where it moves the body up and 

 down like R. phoenicura, and like it sometimes jerks the tail, but 

 not so rapidly. When feeding it digs its bill into the ground very 

 frequently, and looks round after each dig with the pert air of a 

 Robin.. They pair in March; and the males look very pretty as they 

 chase the females among the bushes and rocks. As the bird occupies 

 such a dubious place between the Chats and Hedstarts, I was anxious 

 to see which of its actions corresponded with the former and which 

 with the latter. They were quite tame at Guelt el Stel, and I had 

 abundant opportunities of watching them. At that time the black of 

 the back was still edged with brown. Bill black; mouth yellow; 

 eye dark brown; legs, feet, and claws black; soles of the feet rather 

 lighter. Length of tongue three eighths of an inch, arrow-shaped, 

 with the tip slit. Food small beetles and small caterpillars." 



The male Moussier's Redstart has the upper parts black mingled 



