(462) 



Calandrella bracki/dacti/la , MofnciUn jhoyi, Si/lria iitricapilla, communis, con- 

 spicilldtii, Mnscicojri ki/jjoleiiai, and Cdprimnlgu.s ui'ii'iptinsi unharne. Probably 

 Owls occur, but we saw none, ami nothing could be heard tlirough the roaring 

 of the gale. Ravens (doubtless umbrinms) and Passer simplex were said to 

 visit the oasis occasionalh'. 



On April 10 we left El Oiied. The wind had subsided, and all was ipiiet 

 and bright. Wheatears, Swallows, and Common Bee-eaters, also <iiiails, were 

 on migration, Certhihitula jioured forth its melancholy song. The nights during 

 our journey to Tonggonrt were dark, and with onr acetylene lamps we caught 

 great numbers of Moths, mostly Palpnmjahi cestis, spilota, straminea ; and a 

 new species, PulpoMjida hiUjerti Rothschild {Entomol. Zeitschr. xxiii. 19U9, 

 p. 142), as well as Leucanitis algira and huhijlaria, Lithostege marmorata, Oren 

 myodea, Timonn striata, CopicucuUia cijrtniKi, Bracki/yalea alboliiieata, a species 

 of Li/mnntria with red hindwings, and several fine Pyralidae; even Longicorns 

 flew to the lamps, and several large black Tenebrionidae ran over the sand towards 

 the light, if it was not placed too far aw-ay from tiie bordj, round which they 

 seemed to live. It is quite astonishing to find so mach insect life in the desert, 

 among sand-dunes with the scantiest vegetation. 



Late on Ajwil 13 we were back at Tonggonrt. If there were some flies 

 during onr previous visit, they were at this time so plentiful as to defy descrijition, 

 and we can hardly imagine what it must be in the autumn, when the dates 

 are ripe, and when there really are flies, as our host declared, while at present 

 he did not seem to think much of them. 



Ill Tonggonrt we met with both IPippolnis pallida reiseri and opacn, the latter 

 undoubtedly, the former probably on passage. Phglloscopus bonellii, Jgnx torquiUa 

 torqiiilla, Motacilla Jiata Jiava, Oenanthe oenantke, Phoenicarm phoenicurus and 

 ochruros gibraltariensis were on migration. 



The ornis of the oasis is xer)' jioor. Palm-doves, Sparrows, Scops-Uwls, 

 and a few Kestrels seem to be almost the only nesting birds in the palm-groves. 

 Many other birds which enliven the northern oases of Biskra, Zaatcha, Tolga, 

 Onmash (PI. XXI.) and El Kautara, for example, are entirely absent — snch 

 as Blackbirds, Goldtiuches, Greenfinches, Serimis, Parns caer/ileus ultramarinus, 

 Emberiza, striolata sakari, Eiiiberiza calandra— nor did we see Ravens at or 

 near Touggourt. 



On April 15 we left Tonggonrt once more, and on the ^'~'nd we arrived at 

 Biskra. So far we had become acquainted with fine days and sandstorms in 

 the desert, with heat and cold, but we had not yet experienced a thunderstorm. 

 This we did when in camp near Tamerna Djedida, and one of onr tents at last 

 was blown down. AVe also had another heavy sandstorm, but on the whole 

 the journey ran smoothly enough, excejit that towards the end onr friend 

 Dr. Nissen became rather ill, probably from the somewhat dangerous brackish 

 water, or maybe from some tinned food. 



On account of the bad nights we had little opportunity to light the lamps 

 for moth-catching; only at Mraier we caught a fair number of smaller moths, 

 among them two new species : Cleop/iaim picturata and Talpocliarrs descrti 

 Rothsch. {Entom. Zcithschr. xxiii. p. 142). In Mraier wo shot some Uippolais 

 pallida reiseri. Our last evening in the desert, at Bordj Saada, was magnificent, 

 the fiery sunset, with the Anres Mountains in the distance, being a sight uever 

 to be forgotten. 



