550 



4 



Captain Shelley (B. of Egypt, p. 85) says that it arrives in Egypt towards the end of March, and 

 leaves again in September; Finsch and Hartlaub (Vog. Ost-Afr. p. 249) give its range in East 

 Africa as Egypt, Nubia, Sennaar, Kordofan, Abyssinia, the Abyssinian coastal districts, Mokolla 

 in Southern Arabia, and southward into the Somali country ; and Mr. Blanford (Geol. and Zool. 

 of Abyss, p. 380) speaks of it as being " common in Abyssinia from the base of the hills to about 

 3500 or 4000 feet, but not seen above. In the winter (January and February) it was only seen 

 at the base of the ranges ; in May it was common as high as Mayen, about 3500 feet. It 

 appears to be confined to the tropical region." In North-western Africa it is common in Algeria ; 

 Von Heuglin (Orn. N.O.-Afr. p. 279) says that he examined a specimen said to have come from 

 the Gold Coast ; and Mr. Gould has figured and described a specimen from Tripoli. It breeds 

 in Algeria ; and some notes on its habits as observed there by Mr. O. Salvin are given below. 



Though at first classed with the aquatic Warblers, the present species is clearly distinct 

 from that group, especially in its habits ; for, instead of frequenting moist and damp localities, it 

 is more frequently met with in arid sandy districts and amongst the vineyards on the hill-sides. 

 Brehm remarks that it appears to frequent the dry desert localities where the common Nightingale 

 is wanting, and appears to prefer the hill-sides to the flat level country. It appears to be much 

 more of a ground-bird than almost any of the Warblers, and is usually seen either on the ground 

 or perching only a few feet above the ground ; and it is most frequently found searching for food 

 at the foot of a bush or tree. Mr. O. Salvin, in his notes on the ornithology of the Eastern Atlas, 

 writes (Ibis, 1859, p. 309) as follows: — "The head quarters of this bird seem situated in the 

 salt-lake districts, where we found it abundantly through the months of May and June. It 

 does not appear that marshy ground is an indispensable requisite for their haunts ; for I observed 

 it not unfrcquently in the arid district of Guerah el Tharf. In the map this lake looks like a 

 magnificent piece of water ; but it is in reality what most of the places similarly laid down are, 

 viz. a wide expanse of sand covered with saline incrustations, which only in peculiarly wet 

 seasons is flooded with water. There nearly always exists in most of these sandy plains a great 

 amount of evaporation, which, with the white saline matter on the surface, at a distance of a few 

 miles gives all the appearance of a turbulent lake. Indeed, so perfect is the deception, that 

 on arriving at Ain Bei'da we supposed that, when looking on Guerah el Tharf, we had in view 

 a magnificent lake ; and so we continued to believe it, till a morning's ride destroyed the 

 illusion. Subsequently I saw many other instances of mirage, in some of which the hills, 

 clouds, and all the surrounding objects were perfectly reflected. Near Ain Djendeli I used 

 frequently to notice the present species about the trees that overhang the dry stony water- 

 courses that run from the hills into the plains beneath. We never found a nest, however, 

 in one of the above-mentioned places; and it would seem that the bird prefers a moister 

 soil for its breeding-haunts, such as is afforded by the lowlands near Lake Djendeli, where the 

 tamarisk-trees grow on the banks of the Chemora and the small Ain or spring. The nest we 

 found usually placed conspicuously in the fork or on a branch of one of these trees, and with 

 apparently no attempt at concealment. The heights at which the structure is placed vary from 

 one to six feet from the ground. In one instance I found a nest among the roots of a tree in a 

 bank-side, in a place where one would have expected in England to have found the nest of a 

 Robin. The materials employed are the dead shoots of the tamarisk, which form the outside, 



