72 Rev. H. B, Tristram on the 



106. Caccabis PETROSA. (Barbary Partridge.) "ElHadjel," 



Arab. 



Long after I imagined we had bid adieu to our familiar friend 

 of the Atlas, I was astonished at putting up in the Wed N'ga, 

 south of the M'zab country, a strong covey of this partridge, in a 

 district where water is found only for three months of the year, 

 and where vegetation is entirely confined to the narrow gorge of 

 the Wed. The birds had evidently been reared here, and had 

 no conception of a world beyond, for nothing would induce them 

 to take flight towards the plain on either side ; and, flesh meat 

 being a rarity in our larder, we pursued them up and down 

 until we obtained five birds. They were much smaller than the 

 partridge of Algeria, the specimens I preserved being about one- 

 third less than the average size, and the plumage of a paler and 

 less distinct hue ; reminding one in the former respect of the 

 small Grey Partridge of the Scotch hills and the Pyrenees. 



107. CoTURNix COMMUNIS. (Common Quail.) "MelVhoua" 

 Arab. 



Occasionally met with in spring, apparently on passage. 



108. TuRNix AFRiCANUs. (Andalusian Hemipode.) 



I have some doubt whether this bird, so peculiarly a denizen 

 of the thick scrub of the Atlas, can be reckoned in the Saharan 

 catalogue ; but French officers have assured me that they occa- 

 sionally find it in the hills between Djelfa and El Aghouat. I 

 have not met with it there myself, but so shy and solitary a bird 

 might easily escape observation. 



109. Struthio camelus. (The Ostrich.) " N'hdma" 

 Arab. 



To enter upon a full history of "the pride of the Desert" 

 would be out of place here, especially if the tales of ihe Arabs 

 were incorporated in its annals. Unfortunately there is but 

 little opportunity for testing from personal observation the truth 

 of the characteristics attributed to the Ostrich by the natives, 

 who ascribe to it a strange mixture of sagacity and simplicity. 

 The capture of the Ostrich is the greatest feat of hunting to 

 which the Arab sportsman aspires, and in richness of booty it 

 ranks next to the plunder of a caravan. But such prizes are 



