76 Rev. H. B. Tristram on the 



ward, though most abundant in the neighbourhood of the Dayats 

 and to the edge of the Chebkha M'zab. A description of the 

 mode of chasing the Houbara is given in ' The Ibis/ vol. i. p. 

 284. Its nidification does not call for any remarks. The com- 

 plement of eggs appears to be three, sometimes only two. 

 Unlike the Little Bustard, it is a permanent resident. 



112. ffiniCNEMUs CREPITANS. (Norfolk Plover.) " Khee- 

 roona," Arab. 



Common in the Northern Sahara throughout the year. 



113. Grus ciNEREA. (Common Crane.) " Rhernouff," Arab. 

 On passage in spring and autumn, sometimes halting for a 



time in the salt marshes. 



114. Anthropoides virgo. (Numidian Crane.) 



A small flock of this graceful and interesting bird might 

 generally be seen quitting one mai'gin of a salt pond as we ap- 

 proached the opposite edge. My acquaintance being so distant, 

 I can only add my testimony to the truth of their attachment to 

 the Terpsichorean art from the habits of four kept in the court- 

 yard of General Yussuf at Blidah, which I have seen performing 

 a stately minuet in concert for an hour together. 



115. Balearica pavonina. (Balearic Crane.) 



I once, and once only, observed a pair of these fine Cranes on 

 the dry sands of the Guerah-el-Tharf in the month of April. 



116. CicoNiA alba. (White Stork.) " Belerdj," Arab. 

 Respected in the Sahara as in Holland, a welcome visitor and 



a cherished friend. It builds on the tops of the " semaurs " or 

 mosque towers of the M'zab ; but even there, no less than in 

 chilly Denmark, " the Stork knoweth her appointed times,^' and 

 retires in November. Its food there consists of Lizards of the 

 desert. Protected as it is by universal public opinion, it still 

 shows a considerable degree of anxious suspicion for its young, 

 and, when introducing them to the feeding-grounds in the salt 

 marshes, is the first to give the alarm of a stranger's approach to 

 the Cranes and Herons around it. 



