from the Dead Sea and Xorth-western Arabia. 177 



the Depression to the coast-region, where it is found from 

 Jaffa to Beirut. 



Other remarkable birds, typical of the vicinity of the 

 Dead Sea, are the Fan-tailed Raven (Corvus affinis), 

 Tristram's Grackle (Amydrus tristrami), the Palestine 

 Bush-Babbler {Argya squamiceps) , and the Chat- Robin 

 (Cercomela melanvra). 



In January 1909 I made a collection at the Oasis of 

 Tebuk and in the surrounding district. During February 

 and March I travelled over the country which extends from 

 the Dead Sea south-eastwards to the borders of Nejd in 

 Central Arabia. This land was, of course, very poor in 

 bird-life, but two especially interesting observations were 

 made, namely, the occurrence in N.W. Arabia of the Ostrich 

 and of a peculiar Lark (Ammomanes saturatus), the latter 

 having hitherto only been recorded from Abyssinia and 

 Southern Arabia. Travel in this region was extremelv 

 hazardous, and necessity forced me to journey fast from 

 well to well; thus collecting was almost impossible. Manv 

 of the specimens which I preserved were skinned as I rode 

 along on camel-back. 



After my return from the desert-region, a journey was 

 made on foot over the rough country that borders the Dead 

 Sea on the east. The hot-springs of Callirhoe in the Wadi 

 Zerka Main were visited, the Wadis Beni Ham mad, Numeira, 

 and Hessi were explored, and the jungle-covered shores of 

 the sea itself, at Ghor el Mezreh and Ghor es Sarfeh, were 

 fairly well worked. 



The return journey led, via Kerak and Madeba, to Salt, 

 and thence, via the Jordan Valley, to Tiberias and Damascus. 



This collection was made expressly for the museum of the 

 American College in Beirut, and I should advise any 

 member of the British Ornithologists' Union who happens 

 to pass through Syria to make a point of visiting that 

 museum, where he will find a very representative collection 

 of the fauna of Syria and Pah s:ine. 



The following list of birds contains the names of those 

 which I obtained on these journeys. Specimens of most of 



