72 Mr. H. B. Tristram on the Ornitholugy of Palestine. 



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diagram. Its depth of wing, not only long but very broad, 

 till its secondaries appeared to reach almost to the end of 

 its tail, and its short broad tail 

 extending to twice the width 

 of the other, made it appear 

 to cover double the surface its companions did, and we at once 

 named it the Fantail Raven. But its note was the richest, most 

 powerful, and most musical that ever Raven uttered. No croak, but 

 a long-sustained cheery cry which decidedly belied its relationship. 

 Mr. Shepherd was ready to forego the ascent of Sebbeh for the 

 chance of the prize ; and though certainly we would not for all 

 the Ravens of the East have missed the wondrous ruins of Masada 

 and the superb panorama from its summit, it was with a feeling 

 of envy that on our return we found the coveted treasure had at 

 length rewarded his patience; andwe handled the miniature Raven, 

 hoping we had made an ornithological discovery. Everything 

 about him bespeaks the Raven, and not the Crow, the short coni- 

 cal massive bill, the long wings, and the uniform rich violet re- 

 flexion of his plumage surpassing those of every other species. 



It was long before we met with him again. During our 

 sojourn near Jebel Usdum we constantly saw both the Common 

 and the Brown-necked Ravens, which perched continually on 

 the salt-cliffs, though what, save a love of desolation, could have 

 brought them there it was hard to guess, but no other species 

 could we discover. More than one fell a victim to the rifle- 

 practice of my companions ; for they afforded a tempting mark 

 as they sat on the glittering salt-peaks. At length we crossed 

 to the east side, not, however, to meet, as we had hoped, a kindly 

 welcome from the Ghawarineh inhabitants of the rich oasis of 

 Safieh, below Kerak, but to find the smoking embers of a plun- 

 dered village, strewn with the corpses of the combatants in a recent 

 battle. Thus prematurely our hopes of the richest ornithological 

 harvest in the country were foiled. A few varieties we secured 

 during the afternoon ; but, encumbered with human prisoners, 

 for our men had captured more than a dozen, and knowing that 

 the enemy was lurking in the woods, of which the whole dis- 

 trict is full, the keenest ornithologist might be excused if he re- 

 served his second barrel for a bullet, and declined to wander far 



