NOVITATES ZOOLOGICAE XXXIV. 1928. 337 A RUSH THROUGH TUNISIA, ALGERIA, AND MAROCCO, AND COLLECTING IN THE MAROCCAN ATLAS, IN 1927. By ERNST HARTERT. (Plates VIII-IX) r^N March 14, 1927, I left London with Mr. Lancelot Turtle. Though the ^"^ train was very late at the Gare de Lyon in Paris, we had time to dine in the excellent restaurant at the station in the company of Monsieur Heim de Balsac. Next morning we were most kindly received at Marseille by Dr. Fromols-Rakowski and, according to plan, met the Hon. Masauji Hachisuka. Together we all visited the beautifully situated Museum, where Professor Vayssiere most obligingly showed us what we wanted to see and discuss, chiefly the Falcons. VVe had a wonderfully quiet crossing over to Tunis on the comfortable S.S. Gouverneur General Grevy, but arrived in Tunis in a cold rain. On the " canal " Flamingoes were seen close by, which are as common as they used to be in olden times. Messrs. Lavauden and Blanchet kindly awaited us on the pier, not-withstanding the early hour of our arrival, and helijed us through the custom house with our guns and cartridges. With these two ornithologists we visited the neighbourhood of Tunis, especially the ruins of Carthage — i.e. what little is left of them — and saw their collections. While Monsieur Lavauden 's birds are nearly all (mounted !) in the Museum of Grenoble, Monsieur Blanchet has in his house in Hammam Lif a beautiful and rich collection, partly mounted, partly in skins, of Tunisian (and Algerian) birds, all most conscientiously labelled and named. Near Carthage we visited the very interesting " Station oceanographique de Salammbo," where we, among others, were shown two live young Mediter-ranean Shags, Phalacrocorax aristotelis desmaresti, which were taken from a nest on the islet of Chickli in the Lake of Tunis as early as March 12, 1927, so that the eggs must have been laid in February. On the Lake of Tunis we saw, among other birds, fine adult Larus melanocephalus. In Tunis Mr. Hachisuka bought an excellent Citroen car, and on the 20th we left Tunis for Sfax. We passed the beautiful ruins of El-Djem, and at Sousse, in the outskirts of the town, we saw a pair of Streptopelia senegalensis phoenicophila, which now ranges along the coastal region to Sousse and even to Cape Bon. Grey Shrikes we found strikingly more numerous than in most parts of Algeria, all Lanius excubitor dodsoni, but north of Sfax already typical L. e. elegans occurs. In Sfax we were most kindly received by Monsieur Paul Bede, and looked over his collection of skins, and his zoological garden of birds and animals, chiefly of Africa Minor. With Monsieur Bede we made an excursion south-westwards of Sfax, far out into the semi-desert. Lanius excubitor elegans was common, also Crested Larks, but bird life was not very rich. Oenanthe moesta was once met with, one pair, but I tried in vain to find the nest. From Sfax we went northwards again to Sousse, where we met Monsieur Lavauden, and saw the beautiful collection of Messrs. Gouttenoire, very well mounted, all from the neighbourhood. Much of the country is taken up by olive-trees,
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