302 



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that gentleman, the specimens obtained by him being now in the British Museum. M. Olph- 

 Galliavd, who described specimens obtained by M. Moussier, writes (Naumannia, 1852, p. G8) 

 that this gentleman " met with the present species in February in the provence of Oran, where 

 it is rare. It is more shy than the Stone-Chat, with which species it consorts. Perched on an 

 Asphodelium plant it perceives danger from afar, and generally disappears before the sportsman 

 can get within shot-range." Almost all the naturalists who have visited Algeria record this bird. 

 Mr. O. Salvin (Ibis, 1859, p. 307) writes that it "is perhaps one of the most interesting in the 

 regency of Tunis and Eastern Algeria, where I had the pleasure of observing it. Its favourite 

 resorts are the ruins of the old Roman cities which lie scattered in all directions throughout this 

 district, and the loose rocky ground which skirts the plains at the foot of the surrounding hills. 

 When visiting such spots, the bright plumage of the male, as he glides from stone to stone, is one 

 of the first objects that attract the attention. The note uttered by the male is peculiar ; and, 

 unlike that of any of its congeners, it is monotonous but not unpleasing. This bird seems inter- 

 mediate between the Stone-Chats and Redstarts; but I am inclined to consider that it is more 

 closely allied to the former than to the latter : the character of the plumage of the male would 

 lead one to this supposition ; and its habits, actions, and nest tend rather to confirm the idea. 

 The eggs, which 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 

 cenanthe, I have no doubt that spotted varieties occur. On observing the eggs of the Saxicohe 

 and MuUcillcB 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 S. rubetra, which are similarly marked, but not so deeply ; then those of 

 »S'. rubicola, which also are spotted, but more indistinctly ; next follow the pale, delicately 

 coloured eggs of S. cenanthe, in which a tendency to spotted varieties is not unfrequently 

 noticeable; then come the eggs of R. phcenicura, 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. Uthys, 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." Canon Tristram also, writing on the ornithology 

 of Northern Africa, says (Ibis, 1859, p. 41 C) that he first obtaiued it "in 1855 near Boghar, on 

 the southern slope of the Western Atlas. This is, I believe, its extreme northern range in the 

 western part of Algeria ; and it has not been observed, so far as I am aware, in the province of 



Oran, or in Morocco. But in Tunis it approaches nearer the coast It is an attractive little 



bird, as well in its plumage as in its habits and song, partaking of the characteristics both of the 

 Redstart and Stone-Chat, between which it appears to be a link. In the northern Sahara it is 

 very scarce, but increases in numbers as we advance southwards, being always to be found in the 

 gardens and palm-groves, and generally in the thickets of the dayats. In the whole of the M'zab 

 country it is abundant; and its lively note and repeated cry (whence its name of ' Zinzukli) may 

 be heard about all the fruit-trees." Writing again in 1860 (Ibis, 1860, p. 365) on this species, 

 Canon Tristram continues as follows: — " While one race of man after another has rushed like a 

 flood over North Africa, and left the faint traces of each invasion in a few stranded ruins on the 



