Aden and the Neighbourhood. 19 



39. TuRTLE-DovE. {Turtw, sp. inc.) 

 A resident, breeding at the tanks and in some of the water- 

 courses on the Shum-shuui plateau. 



Three or four more kinds of Doves are to be met with 

 inland, while both in Aden itself and inland also some 

 Pigeons {Columba livia) have become wild. 



t40. Long-tailed Dove. {(Ena capensis.) 

 Common at Lahej all the year round, but appears to visit 

 Huswah and Shaikh Othman only in the summer and autumn. 

 A nest with two eggs (sent to you) was found in a low 

 salsola bush at Huswah on the 9th of September, 1883. The 

 bird sat so close that I tried to catch her in a butterfly-net. 



41. Sand-Grouse. {Pterocles exustus.) 



Very common inland, particularly in the month of March, 

 when numbers are to be seen in the morning, about 8.30 a.m., 

 going down to the streams to drink. It is called '' Uht-Uht " 

 by the Arabs of the Lahej district, presumably from its note. 



t42. LicHTENSTEiN^s Sand-Grouse. {Ptcrocles lichten- 

 steini.) 



Found in a large flock of from eighty to one hundred 

 individuals at Shulaif, near Lahej, in March 1883. Since 

 that time I have only seen these birds in small flocks of four 

 or five. Of two, which I killed out of a flock of five near 

 the head of the Bir Ahmed creek on the 16th of December, 

 1884, the dimensions were as follows : — 



(J. Expanse 2r4 inches, length 11*1, wing 2*5. Crop 

 full of seeds, apparently of salsola and baubul. 



? . Expanse 18*2 inches, length 10*6, wing 2-1. Food as 

 before. Ovaries small. 



Bare skin round the eyes yellow ; legs light dingy yellow- 

 ochre. 



t43. Black-headed Partridge. {Gaccabis melanocephala-) 

 A large Chukor, called '' Ukhob " by the Arabs, is com- 

 mon at Haith-al-him and along the road to Zaidah. It fre- 

 quents the ravines running down to the river, at times lying- 

 very close in the bushes. They ai^e found in flocks of from 



c2 



