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with quivering wings and tail brought forward ; and this was the only time at which there was 

 anything characteristic about their flight." 



Referring to the habits of the present species as compared with those of Emberiza striolata, 

 Mr. Dixon writes {I. c.) : — " We failed to note the great differences of habits which are said to 

 occur between these two birds, E. saharcB and E. striolata. Mr. Elwes met with this pretty little 

 bird amongst the rocks, away from the dwellings of men, but still tame and trustful as ever. My 

 observations of the habits of this species agree very closely with the capital account of the habits 

 of E. striolata as observed by Mr. Hume in Rajpootana." 



Respecting the nidification of this Bunting the only detailed account I can find is that given 

 by Mr. J. H. Gurney, Jun. (Ibis, 1871, p. 291), as follows: — "I think every house in Gardaia 

 is tenanted by a pair of House-Buntings. They are equally common in the other Mzab cities. 

 A nest in the inner court at Berryan was upon some plaster in a large square hole. It contained 

 one young one, yellow about the gape, and covered with a whitish down. It was a shallow nest, 

 made of the thin twigs of firewood, and lined with hair. The hen generally flew to it from the 

 edge of the opposite wall. I often watched her preening herself. She liked to sit on the edge 

 of something, and let her tail hang down, which, from constant contact with the floor, was very 

 dirty. She usually began by puffing out every feather until she resembled a ball divided by a 

 deep line down the middle of the breast, into which she thrust her beak. When the lower 

 parts were finished, she would preen the back, especially underneath the wing, between the 

 scapular feathers. This is probably the attitude in which they sleep. Scratching her head with 

 her foot, or scraping her bill against the mortar, concluded her toilet, which occupied from three 

 to five minutes. As I afterwards found other nests, I was able to make further observations. I 

 think the eggs must be deposited in March, as in most instances the young had been hatched off. 

 Judging from the one at Berryan, which had flown when I returned to that place on the last day 

 of the month, the young remain in the nest at least twenty-one days. On the 23rd of April I 

 saw a nestling full-grown and able to feed itself, which must have been hatched about the 1st. 

 The eggs are rather like Sparrows' eggs, but rounder. I only got three; Dr. Tristram did not 

 get any ; and there are none in the Museum at Algiers. The nest is generally, but not always, 

 placed in a hole, and is composed of twigs or little sticks, and lined with hair, with sometimes 

 the addition of wool or a bit of cotton. On one occasion two were found together, which 

 probably belonged to the same bird, as one of them was unfinished. The young are less noisy 

 than Sparrows. The female brings them food about every ten minutes ; and they never chirp 

 except when they see her. I never could detect anything in her beak, or see on what she fed 

 them, although I watched the operation often ; so I do not doubt that she reproduces what she 

 has eaten for the benefit of her callow offspring. Until the young leave the nest the male takes 

 no share in feeding them. The female bears away the fasces. The males sing much the loudest ; 

 indeed the females never do more than twitter ; but the cock pours forth a lively strain during 

 the season of incubation." 



An egg of this Bunting, obtained at Mogador, for which I am indebted to Mr. J. J. Dalgleish, 

 is greyish white finely spotted with brown, the spots being bolder at the larger end, and collected 

 together, formiug an irregular band or wreath, and much resembles some varieties of the eggs of 

 the Common House-Sparrow. In size it measures 20 by 15 millimetres. 



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