(470 ) 



the rope with which two cases, containing all onr birdskins and insects brought 

 totrether during the journey to the M'zab country, were tied on to the back 

 of onr motor, or else it got cut through by the sharp edge of the box ; anyhow, 

 when we arrived at Gnelt es Stel it was seen with indescribable horror that both 

 cases had fallen off! In less than one minute Hartert was on the seat by the 

 side of the chanifeur and rushing back over the same road with all possible speed. 

 After a long drive he saw a big white mass in the halfa-grass — the box containing 

 the birds broken open, and the skins strewn over the desert sand. Fortunately 

 the nomads, who evidently had broken it open, could do nothing with the birds, 

 and not a single one was missing ; but some cigar-boxes containing sixteen 

 clntches of eggs were gone — probably only because of the wooden boxes, which 

 the Arabs covet very much. Among the eggs were properly identified clntches 

 of Gulerida theldae caroli/uie and crislata mncrorhynrha and a splendid series of 

 eggs of Ammomanes deserti algeriensis and Emberiza sdiolata sahari. 



The other box, with all the insects and many other things, after searching in 

 vain all the tents of a nomad camp, in spite of great unwillingness of tlie owners, 

 was fonnd hidden away some distance from the road among some tamarisk bushes. 

 As it was we got off luckily enough with comparatively little loss ; and moreover 

 the enforced delay at Gnelt es Stel led to a wonderful discovery : Rothschild, 

 Nissen, and Hilgert utilised the time of waiting by catching butterflies on the 

 hill-slopes near by, and canght the rare Euchloe pechi, for which we had constantly 

 been looking out, and for which we had in vain ascended the highest mountains 

 near El Kantara a number of times. The honour of the first capture belongs 

 to Dr. Nissen, who made it known to us in dramatic style. 



The next day we stayed again at Boghari, searching in vain for Comatihis 

 eremita, while Nissen and Hilgert went back to Gnelt es Stel for more Euchloe 

 pechi, though they got only a small number, the strong wind being a great 

 hindrance to collecting. 



On April 30 we returned to Algiers. The crossing of the Atlas was cold, 

 especially near Medea, an icy rain trying to wash off the fine whitish dust with which 

 we had been covered in the southern plain. Onr stay at Algiers was much longer 

 than we had wished for, on account of one of us falling ill ; and thus much time 

 was lost, as Algiers is not a snitable locality for an ornithological collector. 



From May 17 to 26 we stayed at Hammaiu R'hira. Much of the time there 

 was spent in collecting lepidoptera, especially the beautiful Zygaena, which was 

 described twice within two months under the names of Z)/gaena thiryi and Zi/gaeiia 

 nisseni by Abbe Joannis and Walter Rothschild, and the lovely Zi/gac/ta a/g/'/n, 

 a generation of which became more and more plentiful. 



Insect life was very plentiful, especially beetles, Cicadidae and others. In the 

 vineyards the large Cicadella cantans was often seen whirring off with a great 

 rattling noise, pretty Biiprestidae, Longicorns, Curciilioiridae, and a host of 

 Hyraenoptera and Diptera were collected. Hilgert was fortunate enough to catch 

 a specimen of the Bee-hawk-moth Haemorrhagia fucifonnis. This was rather 

 a surprise, as Dr. Seitz (Entom. Zeitschr. vol. xxiii. p. 1U5) had categorically 

 declared that statements of its occnrrence in North Africa rested on wrong 

 identifications. Also another moth said by Dr. Seitz not to occur in Algeria, 

 Chaiirocampi porcellm, was caught by Dr. Jordan and Rothschild at Blidah 

 Glacieres, and this race had even previously been described from specimens caught 

 at Teniet-el-Had under the name of Ckaerocampa porccllus colossus. 



