410 Mr. F. C. Selous on 



liatclied out, a little yellow brown-brindled downy thing, willi 

 already longisli legs, neck, and bill. All the eggs I got were 

 considerably incubated, though I managed to blow them 

 without much difficulty with a good large hole. The fact that 

 I found two Cranes' nests each containing only one egg, which 

 must have been sat on for some time, seems to show that 

 these birds do not ahvays lay two eggs Tlie nests were low, 

 flat structures, of beaten-down grass, from 18 inches to two 

 feet in diameter, resting on the grass-covered mud ; but, as 

 they were about three inches in thickness, they were quite dry. 

 These Cranes' nests were difficult to find, as the birds left them 

 and walked slowly away when we were still a long distance 

 from them. On one occasion I saw a Crane fly up from the 

 marsh about 500 yards ahead, and marking the spot as well 

 as I could, I kept my eyes fixed on it, and, wading straight 

 to it, found the nest Avith tAvo eggs. This, however, was the 

 only bird which flew from its eggs. I also marked a Marsh- 

 Harrier (^Circus teruginosus) rise from the swamp, and made 

 sure it had a nest, but found nothing. There were likewise a 

 number of Peewits {Vanellus cristatus) flying about the 

 drier portions of the marsh, and we saw a number of Ruddy 

 Sheld-dueks {Casarca rutila) either sitting just on the edge 

 of the salt-lake or flying over the marsh. These birds nest 

 in holes and crevices among the rocks on the lower slopes of 

 the Maimun Dagh, and are early breeders, as the men with 

 me told me that they had all of them already taken their 

 broods from the mountain to the salt-lake. 



After having finished with the Cranes we went up into the 

 Maimun Dagh and took an EgyptiaTi Vulture's nest, with two 

 very handsomely-marked eggs. We also found two nests of 

 the Syrian Rock-Nuthatch [Sitta syrinca), each containing 

 seven eggs — one clutch being unfortunately much incubated. 

 These nests were made of mud stuck on to an overhanging 

 rock. They looked like very large House-Martins' nests, pro- 

 longed into a narrow passage, at the end of which was the small 

 round hole for entrance or egress. In one ease the entrance- 

 passage and hole (only about an inch in diameter) were built 

 against the overhanging rock, but in the other the entrance- 



