JCOVITATES ZOOLOGICAE XXII. 1915. 63 



The chief object of this expedition was to collect eggs of some of the rarer 

 species of desert-birds, especially oi Ammomanes phoenicunis arenicolor, Eremophila 

 {Otoconjs) and others. It was therefore most discouraging when, soon after 

 El-Alia, we saw the young of the Ammomanes rnnning about ; but our spirits were 

 not long after revived by the finding of a clutch of fresh eggs 1 Another was 

 taken near the well of Sidi-Mahmud. 



On April 15 we came to Guerrara, where tents were pitched outside the town, 

 near the tents of numerous Nomads. We were most kindly welcomed by the former 

 Khalifa,* Bassaid-ben-Hadj-Daoud, who invited us for dinner. We first had tea 

 with the post-master, and also met the Kaid Kaci, who was absent when we came 

 to Guerrara in 1912. We found him a pleasant gentleman, sixty years old, and 

 Kaid of Guerrara for the last forty years. At dinner we also met again Mohamed- 

 ben-Ahmed, the educated and well-informed teacher. We spent the evening very 

 pleasantly with these tactful Beni-Mzab, and next morning bade adieu to the 

 picturesquely situated town of Guerrara, which we are not likely to behold again. 

 After a long march we arrived at our destination, the bordj (rest-house) of Hassi- 

 Kebib, in the valley of the Oued Nca, which looked wonderful, filled as it was 

 with luxurious green, winding its course through the dusty brown hammada 

 (PL I.). Wide portions were covered with excellent fresh grass, and our mules 

 had a regular feast on it. 



We now spent sixteen days at this place, devoting ourselves chiefly to the 

 collecting of eggs. We succeeded in getting beautiful series of identified eggs of 

 Ammomanes phoenicurus arenicolor, Ammomanes deserti algeriensis, Eremophila 

 alpestris bilopha, Galandrella hraohijdactyla rabiginosa, Corvus corax ruficollis, 

 Falco biarmicas erlangeri, Caccabis petrosa spatzi, and a few others, but we were 

 most unlucky with the eggs of the Orested Larks. In 1912 we only met with 

 Galerida t/ie/dae carolinae in this neighbourhood, and the same happened now 

 during the first days. Somehow, in contradiction to our unexpected luck with 

 the eggs of the other Alaudidae, we did not come across a nest with eggs of 

 a Crested Lark, but we had several brought in by boys, which were taken some 

 distance away. I was satisfied that they could only be the eggs of G. t. carolinae, 

 but soon after we found, to our dismay, that Galerida cristata macrorhijncha was 

 also quite common in the same district ! Therefore the eggs were useless, as the 

 Arabs do not distinguish the two species. Well-identified series of eggs of the 

 various forms of Crested Larks inhabiting the Sahara are still our desiderata. 

 Those in the British Museum are almost all worthless, as most of them were not 

 identified by the collector, and they cannot be named by localities alone, because 

 almost everywhere two species occur or may occur side by side. Probably the 

 eggs of each are most variable, and those of the two species indistinguishable 

 in most cases, but more definite information is wanted. 



The time spent at the Hassi-Rebib was very pleasant and very fall of work, 

 though the small room which we occupied was hardly large enough for two men 

 to work, write, and sleep in (PI. I.). Moreover the weather was not favourable, 

 as we had no sun for more than half the time, and more or less heavy gales, filling 

 the air with brown dust and sand, and once we even had a short shower of 

 cold rain. 



The river-bed was full of birds, nesting and on passage, but of residents nothing 



* Khalifa means representative, substitute. In the Mzabite towns the Khalifa, who is elected by 

 the council for a few years, is the representative of the Kaid, when the latter is absent. 



