Mr, A. Newton un the Migratory Habits of tJie Song Thrush. 83 



confined myself to the birds which fell under my own observa- 

 tion in a period of two years, of which only a portion was spent 

 in the true Desert. When again I glance at the list of Waders, 

 and see how many species Capt. Loche has been able to in- 

 clude as winter visitants to the Tell, many of whom, we may 

 fairly presume, straggle into the Desert, I am fully conscious of 

 my deficiencies. 



It will be noted that most of the rarest and most interesting- 

 forms occurred only in the extreme south, where, from the dan- 

 ger of wandering far from camp, and from the rapidity with which 

 we were often compelled to travel, many species might have been 

 overlooked. To naturalize perseveringly in a desert is no easy 

 task, especially when at a distance from water ; for the delay of a 

 day may prove death to a whole caravan. The further we pene- 

 trated south and east, Nubian and Abyssinian types more fre- 

 quently occurred, and the scarcer the European forms became. 

 After the information collected by Riippell, Heuglin and others 

 on the Ornithology of Eastern Africa, we can scarcely antici- 

 pate the discovery of many new species in the still unexplored 

 Touareg country. But the western limits of the Nubian fauna 

 is a problem still unsolved ; and for its solution we need a careful 

 observation of the birds on the route from Tripoli to the Soudan 

 via R'hedames. I believe it will be found that at Waregla we 

 bid adieu to European species, except as winter visitants, and 

 enter upon the Ethiopian zone. The Sahara is the debateable 

 land between the two ; and its southern portion is adapted for 

 the existence of but few of our European forms. 



VIII. — Note on the Migratory Habits of the Song Thrush (Turdus 

 musicus). By Alfred Newton, M.A.,F.L.S., F.Z.S. 



Mr. Tomes, in his excellent paper on White's Thrush in the 

 last Number of 'The Ibis' (1859, p. 379)y speaks of the Song 

 Thrush {Turdus musicus) as having " resident habits," and pos- 

 sessing " organs of flight not adapted for migration." Now, 

 without pausing to inquire whether the words " resident " and 

 " migratory " do not in most (if not in all) cases refer to special 

 localities, and also whether we may not be confusing two very 



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