304 



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 this bird occupies such a 

 dubious place between the Chats and the Redstarts, 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." Major Loche, who met with it "near Mostaganen, Sidi-bel-Abbes, 

 and in the Algerian Sahara," gives full details respecting its habits, which, as they agree with 

 what I have quoted above, I do not translate. As will be seen by the above particulars 

 respecting the habits of this species, it forms a distinct link between the Redstarts and the 

 Stnne-Chats; but after a careful examination of specimens, I have decided on including it in the 

 former group, as I think it approaches nearer to the Redstarts than to the Stone-Chats, though 

 in its habits it closely resembles the latter. 



Canon Tristram, who obtained the eggs of this species in Algeria, writes to me that " they 

 are very hard to describe. They are exactly the size and shape of those of the common Redstart, 

 but the colour is peculiar ; I never met with any eggs coloured like them ; they are white, with 

 the faintest possible bluish tinge, and form a striking contrast to the milky whiteness of eggs of 

 Ruticilla tithys, which latter are in the next compartment of my cabinet. I may call their 

 colour a ' skim-milk ' white. Though my eggs have remained fifteen years in the cabinet, they 

 retain this characteristic blueness, and are most like the eggs of some of the Desert-Chats or 

 Campicola pileata of South Africa in their ground-colour, though the latter have all a few russet 

 spots ; the blueness is fainter than that in the eggs of Ardea russata, more that of Ardeola exilis 

 of America, which in the colour of its eggs bears the same relation to Ardeola minuta of Europe 

 that It moussieri does to R. tithys." 



The present species is said to be entirely insectivorous, feeding on small coleoptera, cater- 

 pillars, and insects of various kinds which it picks up on the ground or on the bushes. 



The specimens figured and described are an adult male obtained through Mr. E. Fairmaire, 

 and a female collected by Dr. Sclater, both being in my collection. 



In the preparation of the above article I have examined the following specimens : — 



E Mus. II. E. Dresser. 



n, b, c, c? ad. Algeria (Fairmaire). d, c? . Oudena, Algeria, February 1858 (P. L. Sclater). e, 3 . Guelt-el- 

 Stel, Algeria (J. H. Gurney, jun.). /, d . Algeria, November 28th, 1856 [H. B. Tristram). g,2. 

 Zaghouan, Algeria, February 1858 (P. L. Sclater). 



E Mus. II. B. Tristram. 



a, <S . Am Oosera, Algeria, November 3rd, 1856. b, ? . Laghouat, November 14th, 1856. c, $ . Berryan, 

 December 1st, 1856. d, d. Gardaia, December 5th, 1856. e, d . Biskra, January 23rd, 1857 (H. B. T). 

 f, 6 . Algeria. 



