38 RAMBLES OF A NATURALIST. 



April 2,rd. I strolled to-day in an easterly direction to a 

 place where I had shot one of a pair of Galerida macro- 

 rJiynca (Trist.), G. randoni {Loche. Revue et Mag., de 

 Zool., April, i860, p. 148, plate XL, fig. 2), and found the 

 other apparently mated again. They are the only ones I 

 have seen here, though Canon Tristram found them " abun- 

 dant near Laghouat." They were quite tame, and evidently 

 meant to nest if they had not eggs already. While I was 

 watching them, a number of shadows attracted my attention, 

 and looking up I saw a flight of locusts overhead. I have 

 been several times made aware of locusts by first seeing 

 their shadows on the ground. I must not omit to state that 

 I shot a Blue-throated Warbler (Cyanecula lencocyanca ?), 

 with the chest spot partly white and partly red. Un- 

 fortunately it was too much shattered for preserving. Loche 

 mentions having shot near Brouage specimens with the 

 chest spot "roussatre" (Exploration, Sc. V., p. 224), 



Every evening, almost before the sun went down, I used 

 to hear the hooting of the Little Owls ( Atliene glaitx, Sav.), 

 and again at daybreak I could hear them. The ear in this 

 species is nearly round, and not large for an Owl. One day 

 I observed a Black Wheatear (Saxicola Icnciird) on some 

 rocks in the town. As the eye wanders over the dreary 

 landscape, it is a relief to see one of these handsome fellows 

 spreading his tail on a grey rock, and displaying himself to 

 advantage as the pairing season approaches. I have found 

 on this Saxicole a formidable white-bodied tick with eight 

 legs. The Frenchmen at Laghouat call them "Merle de 

 Roche," a name applied by Buffon to the Rock Thrush. 

 On another occasion I saw a Goldfinch in the town. This 

 common species yields in beauty to none. To my mind, if 

 you see them in the sunshine, they are brighter than the 

 brightest butterflies ; but African specimens of many birds 

 surpass English in richness of colouring. Loche adds that 

 as a rule they are smaller, but this is certainly not the case 



