476 Mr. Douglas Carruthers on Birds 



The region that I traversed (see Map, Plate IX.) comprised 

 the low, hot depression that holds the Dead Sea and sinks to 

 1300 ft. below the level of the Mediterranean, the extremely 

 rocky precipitous declivities of the Moab Plateau, which form 

 the eastern wall of the depression, the rolling uplands of Moab, 

 which afford a certain amount of pasture, and, lastly, the 

 inner deserts (the stony Hammad and the sandy Nafud) 

 which stretch into the very heart of Arabia. 



The vegetation of these different zones varies a great deal. 

 In the Dead Sea Basin it is of almost tropical luxuriance ; 

 in many places palms, oleanders, and acacias form an 

 impenetrable jungle. In the Ghor es Sarfeh, at the south 

 end of the Dead Sea, there is an especially dense jungle 

 of thorn-scrub, tamarisk, and a tall grass (Saccharum 

 a>gyptiacum). The wadis that drain into the Dead Sea are 

 also full of growth, but the hills are generally very 

 barren. 



The Moab Plateau affords fairly good pasturage for flocks 

 and herds, and is inhabited by a considerable variety of 

 birds and mammals, while the inner deserts are much more 

 sterile and almost uninhabited. The north-western portion 

 of Arabia is composed of limestone steppes, sand-dunes, 

 barren rocky hills, and a few isolated oases. 



The altitudes of these different localities vary from 

 — 1292 ft. (below the level of the ocean) in the Dead Sea 

 Basin to 4-3000 ft. on the Moab Plateau. The greater 

 part of N.W. Arabia has an altitude of over 2000 ft. 



The great trench which holds the Jordan River and the 

 Dead Sea, being one of the most remarkable physical features 

 in the world, contains an interesting fauna. 



The Moab Sparrow (Passer moabiticus), for instance, is 

 not only confined to this limited region, but is only found 

 in three little isolated areas of jungle at the most southern 

 and lowest portion of the Depression. This is also the only 

 locality in the Palaearctic Region where a species of the 

 genus Cinnyris occurs (C. osea), which shews the affinities 

 of the fauna of Palestine to that of the Ethiopian Region. 

 This bird, however, seems to have extended its range out of 



