» Letters, Extracts from Correspondence, Notices, ^c, 475 



detected an egg, which the bird had just dropped in the grass. 

 This egg is similar in its markings to that of our Blackbird 

 {Tardus merula), and in size equal to a Jay's. I generally found 

 the Great Spotted Cuckoo very shy. In flight it much resembles 

 the Sparrow-hawk, so much so that I was often deceived into 

 shooting the one for the other. Though by no means common 

 on the Nile, this Cuckoo seems curiously to affect certain places, 

 and I once saw six in one " sunt " grove. 



Yours, &c., 



W. J. Chambers. 



Chichester, July 7, 1863. 



Mr. W. J. Chambers also furnishes us with the following 

 note on the birds he noticed during his subsequent journey 

 through Palestine : — 



On entering Palestine on the south at El Arish, the bird- 

 population appears to consist chiefly of the Chat tribe. Wheat- 

 ears are very numerous, and I obtained specimens of Saxicola 

 stapazina, S. saltatrix, and observed >S^. leucomela and others 

 that I did not identify. Shrikes are abundant, and I obtained 

 Lanius excubitor and L. rufus. Redstarts are common, and I 

 observed Riippell's Warbler {Sylvia ruppellii), a specimen of 

 which, by-the-by, I shot in some low bushes in the middle of 

 the desert between El Arish and Cairo. Of the Hawk tribe 

 there are a great number, but having very little time for preserv- 

 ing, I did not shoot any. One of my friends obtained a fine 

 specimen of the Peregrine Falcon {Falco peregrinus) . We saw 

 a few Quails {Coturnix dactylisonans) , and towards Jerusalem a 

 fair number of Perdix grmca, Briss., which, however, owing to 

 the difficult nature of the ground and their running habits, are 

 very troublesome to shoot. About Jerusalem birds are scarce. 

 I obtained Cretschmaer's Bunting {Emberiza ccesia), and the 

 Blue Thrush {Petrocincla cyanea) : I saw a few Blackbirds, 

 which appeared to be precisely similar to our Turdus merula ', a 

 few Jays, but was unable to obtain any ; I think they were 

 Garrulus melanocephalus. At Jericho and in the Jordan-valley 

 birds seem plentiful, and I regretted much that we were only 

 allowed one night at that most interesting spot. The only bird 



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