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



than most Bi'itisli examples. The Jay is mentioned neither by 

 Hasselquist nor Russell. 



A few days after we had found our first Jays, in December, 

 we met with the Hooded Crow, C. comix, at Jenin (Engannim), 

 a day's journey south of Nazareth ; and neither in winter nor 

 summer did we find it further north. There is not the slightest 

 difference in size or plumage between Palestine and British 

 specimens, except that the former are clearer and brighter in 

 coloration ; but as my own British skins are all Durham spe- 

 cimens, their comparative duskiness may be probably attributed 

 to the carboniferous character of the district. It is curious that 

 this bird, merely a winter visitant to all except the more northerly 

 portion of the British Isles, should be sedentary, not only in 

 Southern Syria, but also in Egypt, and that in the north of 

 Palestine it should be, if present at all, at any rate very scarce. 

 It is given by Russell as inhabiting the neighbourhood of Aleppo. 

 There were a few pairs at Jenin, which roosted among the palm 

 trees, where we obtained them as they were retui'ning home in 

 the evening. In the district about Nablous they were scarce, 

 but more numerous at Jerusalem, living there in society with 

 Ravens and Rooks, but not nearly so abundant as the other 

 Corvidcs. We never saw them in the southern wilderness, or 

 in the neighbourhood of the Dead Sea ; but on crossing to the 

 other side of Jordan, the C. comix was widely distributed over 

 the highlands and open plains of Moab, and in the southern and 

 eastern portions of Gilead, not loving the thick forests, but re- 

 sorting chiefly to open plains, where a few terebinth trees occa- 

 sionally varied the landscape. 



In these regions we found it breeding, both on isolated trees, 

 in rocks, and in old ruins ; and here we found the Great Spotted 

 Cuckoo ( Oxylophus glandarius) depositing its eggs in its nests, 

 and obtained several. In one instance I fear the foster-child, 

 had we not prematurely intervened, would have had a poor 

 chance in the struggle for existence, since the legitimate eggs 

 were nearly ready to hatch, while the Cuckoos' were only slightly 

 incubated. It was interesting to meet, among the ruins of Rab- 

 bath Ammon,with this corroboration of Messrs. Brehm's, Coch- 

 rane' s, and Allen's observations in Egypt, where they frequently 



