( 244 ) 



other European. This gentleman, being nnattached, joined the party, and by his 

 knowledge of the people and their language proved of the greatest assistance. 



During their stay in the district, the country and Wadis to the east and west 

 of Lahej, and as far north as Jebel Manif, were thoroughly explored, and a number 

 of species not previously recorded from South Arabia were obtained. A thick-knee 

 plover (CEdknem'ts dodsoni), a bush-shrike {Iclepkonus percicali), and a lark 

 {Ammo manes saturatus) proved to belong to undescribed species. 



On September 15th Mr. Percival and his party left Lahej, and, leaving the 

 baggage at Shaik Othman, returned to Aden to obtain permission to visit the Abian 

 country, which lies to the east. AVhile waiting for the Governor to obtain a favourable 

 reply from the Sultan of Shukra they took up their quarters at the Government 

 bungalow at Shaik Othman, and worked the surrounding country to the south of 

 Lahej and the desert to the west towards Little Aden. 



On the evening of September 28th a start was made for the Abian country, 

 which was reached on the following evening ; and, after the usual negotiations with 

 the Sultan had been completed to his satisfaction, a camp was formed near Al Khaur, 

 on the Wadi Hassan, where birds and small mammals were fairly numerous. 



The water at this camp must have been polluted, and proved the source of all 

 the subsequent misfortune, for about twelve days after their arrival all the party 

 were attacked with low fever of a very severe t3'pe. At this time Mr. Bury was 

 obliged to leave the party and return to Aden. Between October 10th and 16th 

 j\lr. Percival made a trip through the mountains to the east in search of Ibex, etc., 

 leaving the camp in charge of Dodsou, who was then apparently quite well and 

 anxious to continue collecting in the district, which had proved a good one. On his 

 return, though suffering himself much from daily attacks of fever, he found Dodson 

 in a much worse plight, and very ill and weak. Moving by easy stages, the party 

 retraced their steps, arriving on the night of October 19th at Aden, where, as already 

 related, poor Dodson shortly succumbed. Plate X. shows the route of the 

 travellers. 



The season during which the expedition was made was too early for complete 

 success, and almost all the birds obtained were in full moult, and consequently 

 difficult to make up into good skins ; while insects were very scarce. On the whole, 

 however, as will be seen by the following list, our ornithological knowledge of South 

 Arabia has been very considerably increased, and we owe a debt of gratitude to 

 Mr. Percival and his unfortunate companion who lost his life in the pursuit of 

 science. 



The results of the ornithological researches round Aden and Lahej of (Joloncl 

 Yerbury and Messrs. Barnes and Hawker have been incorporated in the present 

 paper, as well as the collection made by Dr. H. 0. Forbes and myself in November 

 l>iOS ; so that the following list gives a complete account of the avifauna of South 

 Arabia as known up to the present time, and adds forty-seven species to the list 

 published by Colonel Yerbury in the Ibis for 1890. 



The collection made by Messrs. Percival and Dodson is in the British Museum, 

 and a second almost complete set at Tring. 



1. Corvus corax (>). 



C'imus corax Linn. ; Yerbury, Ibh 1890, p. 2i'>. 

 Colonel Yerbury says the T'ommon Raven is fairly commi n inland ; no specimen, 

 however, was obtained. 



