DUSKY IXOS. *203 



EGG OF IXOS OBSCUEUS. 



I HAVE much pleasure in giving here a figure of 

 the egg of Ixos ohscurus, sent to me by the Rev. H. 

 B, Tristram, with that gentleman's remarks. This rare 

 egg is, I believe, now figured from an authentic 

 specimen for the first time. Mr. Tristram says, — "Egg 

 of Ixos ohscurus. — Taken in a ravine near Lake Fetzara, 

 Eastern Algeria,. 24th. June, 1857, from a nest con- 

 taining three eggs hard set, in the centre of an 

 extremely thick piece of brushwood in the fork of a 

 low bush. Both the parent birds were shot. The 

 nest is very slight, small for the size of the bird, 

 formed outwardly of very fine twigs, and lined with 

 extremely fine fibres of roots. No hair or wool, or 

 other warm material used in its construction. It is 

 saucer-shaped and shallow. 



The voice of the bird is powerful and rich, some- 

 thing like the note of the Nightingale cut short, — the 

 first part of its song without the last. This is believed 

 to be the only nest of Ixos ohscurus yet found, and 

 the egg bears a close afiinity with that of the Ixos 

 (or Pycnonotus) hmmorrliceus , of Ceylon, in my collec- 

 tion, and with that of Xanthoptjgius of Palestine. 

 The egg of the Gold-vented Thrush will doubtless 

 prove to be very similar. These eggs mark at once 

 the clear separation of the genus Ixos from the Turdince. 

 The whole family are among the richest songsters in 

 nature, and one of the genus is the true 'Bulbul' of 

 the East." 



