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of the northern Atlas and on the north edge of the " Hants Plateanx," the huge flat 

 plateaux between the nortlieru aud .southern chains of the Atlas. Travelling by rail 

 from Constantine to Biskra this zoogeographical belt is not well marked and not 

 very noticeable, mountains and hills coming up between, aud the conntry being 

 more cultivated, while still farther east, in Tunisia, on account of the S.W. — -N.E. 

 direction of the Atlas, it is still narrower, though such a belt is marked between 

 El Oubira (near Tebessa) on the western frontier and Feriana, according to Mr. 

 Whitaker {B. Tnnixia I. p. x). Here, south of Boghari, these Hants Plateaux are 

 very extensive, forming an immense, little inhabited and little cultivated flat stretch 

 of land, for the most part thickly covered with halfa-grass (Sti/xi tenwussima). 



Though comparatively near the coast and so close to the Atlas Mountains, the 

 fauna on the arid rufous-butf rocks some ID kilometres to the south is more Saharian 

 than one would expect from looking at the map ; Oenanthc {Sacicola) leacuni 

 syenitica is common, and so is Erijthrospiza githaginea, and the Crested Lark is no 

 longer the dark Galerida thcMac. /inrterti wliich we saw commonly in the Metidja 

 plain and even near Medea, but the pale (i. thehhie hilgrrti (see chai)ter on Crested 

 Larks). It is here where Comatibis eremita was found over fifty years ago, and still 

 exists, though in small numbers. 



On the steep banks of the deeply eroded river-bed Lesser Kestrels and Little 

 Uwls appeared to be numerous. The caterpillars of an Arctiid moth were exceed- 

 ingly numerous. Their nests covered the short grass aud the young wheat, and the 

 little caterpillars were seen by millions. Probably tlioy belonged to a species of 

 ('i/mbaloplnird, maybe liaroldi or powelli. The next day we rushed over the great 

 hnlfa-ijlateau to Djelfa, the capital of the Ouled-Nail tribe, to which belong nearly 

 all the dancing-girls and prostitutes of the southern parts of Algeria. 



We stopped in several places, observed Oenaiithe moesta and deserti, aud Oe. 

 oenuntlii' and hispanim on migration, shot a few Galerida tkeklae hilgerti and 

 caught Eiiehloc cliarlonia, helemia and beliti unet. (nee Linne), also fresh Thestor 

 maurituiiicHs and quite worn Thestor balhis. 



Evidently these great halfa-plaius must be the home of Alaemoii duponti, 

 and Galerida cristata randoni (see chapter on Crested Larks), both of which 

 we failed to observe anywhere in Algeria. Houbara-Bustards were often seen. 

 On April 4 we arrived at Laghouat, a very beautiful town, said to be one of the 

 hottest in Algeria in summer, the temperature sometimes rising to ot)" C, while 

 in winter, though cold, it never reaches zero. The Catholic church and the new 

 mosijue are very tine buildings, the fortress and other military buildings crowning 

 the rocks above are picturesque from the distance, many of the streets have 

 colonnades under which one can walk protected from the sun, and everything is 

 wide aud clean ; nevertheless typhoid and malarial fevers are said to be common. 

 Our chief object at Laghouat was to collect the long-billed Lark which Tristram 

 discovered here in 1850, and we nccomplisiied this without great difficulty, though 

 this form, Galerida cristata marorln/nclia, was fiir rarer than G. theklae carolinae, 

 which occurred almost everywhere on the red stouy plain south of Laghouat and 

 even at the foot of the hills and in the wide bed of the Oued Mzi, which later on, 

 after receiving a few tributaries (/.(■. wlien there is water in them !) l.iecomes the 

 Oued Djeddi, the biggest (temjwrary) river or Oued in the Algerian Sahara, and 

 which, beyond Bordj Saada, south of Biskra, like the Oued Biskra, is lost in the 

 Chott Melrhir (or Melghir). The long-billed Crested Lark is almost confined to 

 places where there are fields or an attempt at cultivation, and farther south, to 



