80 Rev. H. B. Tristram on the Ornithology of Palestine. 



her along with his Cettia (Ibis, 1866,p.383) : and as we were sit- 

 ting in our tents at dinner, quite unconscious of harm inflicted, 

 we were invaded by a posse of villagers under arms, who im- 

 peratively demanded damages ; and, though we carefully ex- 

 tracted all the shot corns, and satisfied my quarry that neither 

 eye was at all injured, the shot proved dear enough, and that 

 Cettia orientalis is one of the most costly specimens in my 

 cabinet. 



The most conspicuous and attractive of all the Warblers of 

 Palestine is Aedon gaJactodes (Temm.), and it is perhaps the 

 most abundant in summer. But it returns very late. On the 

 14th April this species appeared in great numbers, aud over- 

 spread every part of the country, wet or dry, where there were 

 bushes or reeds. The return was simultaneous, and from that 

 time its bright chestnut plumage, with its black-and-white-tipped 

 tail expanded like a fan, enlivened every thicket and thorn-bush. 

 In no way whatever does it resemble the Marsh- Warblers in 

 action or note. Its song is low, soft, and mellifluous. It is 

 constantly seen, and, instead of skulking in thickets, hops here 

 and there, perching on the outmost bough of any bush or on 

 the stem of a tall cane, expanding and jerking its tail like a 

 Wren. It is curious that a bird which remains all the winter 

 in the Sahara should be so late a migrant in the warm regions of 

 the Holy Land. The species there is identical with that of 

 South Europe and North Africa ; and out of the innumerable 

 birds we saw, of which we preserved over thirty specimens, I 

 never met with an individual oi Aedun familiaris (Menetr.), said 

 to be the common species in Asia Minor, and also given by Dr. 

 von Heuglin in the list of birds from the Red Sea (Ibis, 1859, 

 p. 341) to the exclusion of our bird. Can there be some error 

 here ? After examining Mr. Gould^s specimens from Smyrna, I 

 can have no hesitation in assenting to the marked difference be- 

 tween the two. The nests of Aedon are very easy to find, and 

 our old African experience assisted us ; for the tamarisk is its 

 favourite tree, and without more attempt at concealment than an 

 English Mistletoe-Thrush, it piles its large nest in a low fork. As 

 in Algeria, so here, we found the serpent's skin an invariable 

 ingredient in the lining of the nest, and the green lizards our 



