294 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST- SOCIETY, Vol. XXVI. 



The Seesee — Ammoperdi.v bonhami. Not to be found in Fao or neighbour- 

 hood. The country is unsuited for it. 



Wood Pigeon — Palumbus paiumbus. One year a large flight of these birds 

 visited Fao, and many built nests in the date groves, but I never heard 

 of any young being found. They left very suddenly. 

 Collared Pratincole — Glareola pratincola. Breeding in neighbourhood of 



Fao. 

 Lapwing — Vanellus cristatus. To be obtained at Fao some years. 

 White-tailed Lapwing — Chettusia leucura. To be found at Fao occasionally. 



1 have shot specimens. 

 Kentish Plover — yl£. alexandrina. Besides this species I have found others 



breeding, but was not able to make sure of their identity. 

 Whiskered Tern — Hydrochelidon hybrida . Shot at Fao. See notes in Ibis, 



January 1891. 

 Little Tern — Sterna minuta. I obtained a series of small Terns, inter- 

 mediate between minuta and saundersii which 1 personally handed to 

 Dr. Bowdler Sharpe. 

 Imperial or Black-bellied Sand-Grouse— Pterocles arenarius. Eggs of this 

 species have been obtained from the interior of Persia and Arabia and 

 brought to Fao. 

 Large Pin-tailed Sand-Grouse — Pteroclurut< alchata. These are brought 

 alive from Persia, I have had several brought from neighbourhood of 

 Bandermashoor, where they are reported to breed. 

 The Common Sand-Grouse — P. e.nistus. At times Grouse are seen and 

 heard flying over Fao, which with the aid of binoculars I thought might 

 be this bird but never obtained a specimen. 

 Macqueen's Bustard or Houbara — Houbara macqueeni. These are to be 

 had on both sides of the river during winter. The eggs I received 

 were sent to me by the Sheikh of Koweit the late Sheikh Jerrah. 

 Mr. McDonall, British Consul at Mahomerah, wrote to me on one 

 occasion as follows .• " An Arab friend of mine tells me that 

 Houbara breed iu the Ram Hurmuz district, he says when he lived 

 in Fellahieh he on several occasions had Obara chicks brought in. 

 He also says a much larger bird of that kind is rarely seen in that 

 neighbourhood. Could this be the Great Bustard." 

 I once shot a smaller Bustard, in Bushire, the macqueeni, it came into 

 the compound of the house I was living in. Again on a second 

 occasion I shot a similar bird ofl" the mouth of Shat-el-Arab, while the 

 steamer I was on was aground on the Fao bank. The bird kept 

 flying round the steamer, during a heavy rain storm, when the land 

 was obscured. 

 In the first instance I made a specimen of the bird and sent it to my 

 brother Mr. John Gumming in Karachi, and I believe he sent it to 

 England, but that it got lost in transit. 

 In the second instance the pot claimed the victim ! So that I have 

 never been able to confirm my identification, and I have never heard 

 of any others being secured about these localities. 

 This much is certain that both birds were a good deal smaller than 

 macqtieeni. 

 Stone-Curlew — QLdinnemus scolopax. Not uncommon on both sides of river 



in the desert tracts at back of date-palms. 

 White Ibis — Ibis melanoacephala. Plentiful at Fao during winter. 

 White Stork — Ciconia alba. Does not breed at Fao, the eggs were obtain- 

 ed from Baghdad. 

 Little Bittern — Ardetta minuta. I obtained two young nestlings on one 

 occasion from the Persian side of the river. 



