164 On the Ornithology of Northern Africa. 



They had not been incubated, and the complement was probably 

 not complete. No one could mistake the rich-blue eggs, so 

 much rounder and smoother than those of the Herons. I have 

 been told that a few years since the Ibis was comparatively plen- 

 tiful, but has been almost extirpated by the French chasseurs, 

 and I do not believe that there now remained more than these 

 two pairs. The nests of the Buff-back contained generally four 

 eggs, sometimes but three, and had for the most part been incu- 

 bated for a few days. 



Further back and to the eastward we found a few nests of 

 the Night Heron {Nydicorax grisea), — not crowded like the 

 others, but still in society. They too had been sat on for a 

 little time. They were well concealed, and not always easy of 

 detection among the matted roots of the reeds, though almost 

 on the ground. While the egg of the Buff-back is of a deli- 

 cate greenish-white, and varies much in size and shape, that 

 of the Night Heron is of a pale green, far more delicate than 

 the Common Heron, but somewhat approximating to it. I may 

 remark that I never in Algeria obtained or saw this bird in the 

 first year's spotted plumage. All we noticed were in full adult 

 dress. 



The next day I resumed my quest, and obtained a single egg 

 of the Red-crested Whistling Duck in the open swamp. My 

 companion shot the bird as it rose from the nest. Fuligula 

 rufina breeds sparingly at the Lake, but remains there through- 

 out the winter. The males appear to desert the locality as soon 

 as the females sit, and are never seen again until the end of 

 autumn. I have observed that the female erects her scanty 

 crest in imitation of her mate, and proudly throws back her 

 head, walking with a stately gait. The nest is like that of the 

 Coot, but not so large, better concealed, and without the gang- 

 way of rushes built by the other. 



Searching for the nesting- place of the Terns, I was surprised 

 to find the whole colony of AVhiskered Tern [Sterna hybrida) 

 breeding in the nests of the Eared Grebes above described, — and 

 that, apparently, without having at all repaired the nests, which 

 could have been only a few days evacuated by their constructors, 

 as we saw hundreds of young Eared Grebes paddling about and 



