296 
Rev. H. B. Tristram on the 
continues his warbling from sunrise till nearly noon. His voice, 
though not so strong, is quite as varied and mellow as that of 
our own common Linnet, to which it bears considerable resem¬ 
blance in tones. Our habitation was merely an open shed on 
one side of a courtyard, and frequently these Buntings would 
perch on the opposite side during meals, and at length the 
boldest of them summon courage to hop across the court and 
pick up fragments of “ couscous 33 at our feet. It builds both 
in holes in walls about houses and gardens, and also in rocks. 
I have found the nest in process of being built, in El Kantara, 
in April, though I never succeeded in obtaining the eggs. 
31. Monticola cyanea. (Blue Rock-Thrush.) “ Tuttow 
Khifan 33 i . e. Rock-Thrush, Arab. 
Few spots where there is any vegetation are without a pair 
of these shy and wary birds, who maybe detected dropping like 
a Wheatear behind a rock in a ravine, or perched on the mud 
wall of a palm grove, the male occasionally rising and hovering 
like a lark at some height during his song, which is, however, 
more frequently chanted from the top of an isolated rock. It 
occasionally perches on bushes, and, as a songster, possesses 
organs of voice of not less power, compass, and variety than our 
own Song-Thrush. 
32. Monticola saxatilis. (Common Rock-Thrush.) 
Decidedly a scarcer bird in the Sahara than the former, more 
shy and wary, and resorting only to the higher grounds. In 
the upper portions of the Atlas it is more plentiful; but I have 
only seen it three or four times in the Desert, and then only on 
such elevated situations as the summits of the Chebkha M’zab. 
33. DuoMOLiEA leucura. (Black Wheatear.) “BouHaoud, 33 
Arab. 
The Chats are the tribe of all others most universally distri¬ 
buted in the Desert, yet having specifically very narrow limits. 
They are, too, the only class of birds there who have any distinc¬ 
tive or conspicuous colouring. The Larks of various species or 
the Sand-grouse may be on all sides, yet only a practised eye 
can detect a sign of life in the waste. But the lively Chat is 
