( 540 ) 



towQ of Bataa. On May 5, 1909, we counted as many as eight nests on the town- 

 hall alone, and there were several more in 1008. Another nest is on the ehnrch, 

 and a unmbor more on other lionses as well as in the neighbonrhood on bnildings 

 and trees. A stork was nesting, in 1900, on a Roman archway near Larabfese, and 

 another pair on the tallest oC the colnmns in the famons ruins of Timgad. 



Very few, if any, White Storks remain in North Algeria all tiironoh the 

 winter; but they do nut go far south, and the majority pmlulily remain in South 

 Algeria, where they may frei|uently be seen near El Ontaya and Biskra. 



About the middle of February a few Storks were seen near Guelma, but whether 

 they had remained there throughout the winter, or had already arrived from the 

 south, is of coarse not possible to say. According to Mr. Whitakerthe Storks return 

 to Tunisia about the end of February. 



On March 5 a Stork was shot near Biskra, and two were obtained for us in the 

 Tell-conntry south of Bone by Monsieur Dechabert. These specimens differ in no 

 way from North European ones. 



No doubt some Enrojjean Storks ]iass tlirough Algeria on their way fo 

 tropical and South Africa, but the majority of them appear to take a more easterly 

 or westerly route, mostly travelling by way of the Nile, others over Sjmin and 

 Morocco. 



177. Comatibis eremita (L.). 



It is well known that this grotesque Ibis was found more than fiftv years ago 

 in Algeria, but since that time no information lias been forthcoming about its 

 occurrence. Loche stateil tiiat it nested near B(]ghar, and Tristram said that he 

 obtained it " on the rocky ridges '" near Bon Gui/.oun, which is now called Bon 

 Ghezonl, on the way to Laghoaat. From this several ornithologists have made it 

 "near Laghouat," and we have also been guilty of copying this mistake in our 

 article in the JVon'tates Zoologicae, when we proved that this bird was formerly an 

 inhabitant of Switzerland and must be called C. eremita. Bou Ghezonl, however, 

 is a caravanserai south of Boghari, a small town close t.o the old town of Boghar, 

 there are no other rocks in the neighbourhood than those about midway between 

 Boghari and Bon Ghezoul, and it must have been there where both Loche and 

 Tristram obtained their specimens. Tristram shot his specimen on June 3, ls50, 

 Loche got eggs and was the first naturalist to describe them. Since then 

 nobody seems to have troubled very much about this bird in Algeria, but 

 Koenig was much interested in it, and says that he never came across it, 

 though he inquired and was on the look-out for it in all the suitable places. 

 Evidently, however, he did not visit places that the birds themselves thought 

 suitable, and the most likely place — i.e. the one where it was found by Loche and 

 Tristram — has not been revisited by another ornithologist, e.xcept by Mr. Gurney, 

 who passed by in 1870, but saw nothing of the bird. We were of course 

 anxious to clear up the question whether and where this bird was still found 

 in Algeria ; and as soon as we were in Boghari we inquired about the bird, 

 and found to our surprise that it was well known to some Arabs and several 

 Frenchmen as well. One of the Arabs gave a perfectly clear and unmistakable 

 description of the bird, said it occurred only in the spring months, nested on the 

 rocks south of the town, where it also roosted at night, but iu the daytime it was 

 asleep ; while another Arab as well as a Frenchman corrected this evident nonsense, 

 saying it left the rocks in the day and would be seen feeding on the fields and along 

 the river. Wliat interestetl us most was the fact that the Arabs said the name of 



