1 92 1.] First Impressions of Tunisia and Algeria. 387 



226. Ammoperdix heyi nicoUi. Nicoll's Desert Partridge. 



I saw a single specimen near Gebel Asfur (south of the 

 Birket Accrashi) on 28 November, 1917. I am familiar 

 with this subspecies, having shot it on tlie Wadi Hof and 

 the Wadi Resheid, near Helouan. A female shot in the 

 the former Wadi, on 11 March, 1918, was within a fort- 

 night of laying, and was flushed from under a large rock, 

 which concealed, what Dr. Beven and I thought looked like 

 the beginning of a nest. Several pieces of grass and a lot of 

 plant-heads were gathered together, with a slight depression 

 in the centre. Dr. Beven informs me that he obtained 

 young birds, just on the wing, in the Wadi Resheid, at the 

 beginning of May 1919. I hope these slight indications 

 will help future observers in Egypt to discover the eggs of 

 this interesting recently described Partridge. 



Ebratum. — On p. 249 line 11, for Abbassia read Ibshawai. 



XXII. — First Impressions of Tunisia and Algeria. By 

 David A. Bannerbian, M.B.E., B.A., M.B.O.U., F.R.G.S. 



(Plates II.-V.) 



Of late years considerable attention has been given by 

 British Ornithologists to the ornis of northern Africa. 

 Lord Rothschild and Dr. Hartert have, by their exhaustive 

 explorations in Algeria, made the birds of that fascinating- 

 country comparatively well known, whilst valuable supple- 

 mentary notes have appeared from the pens of Messrs. 

 Jourdain, Wallis, and Ratclilf. It is, therefore, with extreme 

 diffidence that I present this short paper to the readers of 

 'The Ibis.' In the first place, it contains nothing new, and, 

 in the second [)lace, it is not the narrative of an Ornitho- 

 logical Expedition : it is merely the account of a journey 

 through Tunisia and Algeria which some ornithologists have 

 already made and doubtless many others will make in the 

 future. It is to give these latter some idea of the birds 

 they may expect to encounter, and of the scenery they will 

 pass through, that I have ventured to publish my notes. 



