1921.] of Tunisia and Algeria. 395 



country for caravan-travel and nomad-life the Tunisian 

 Regency is perhaps unrivalled.'' No naturalist, however 

 narrow his interest may be, can fail to be delighted with his 

 first impression of Kairouan, up till the entry of the French 

 in 1881, one of the four sacred Mohammedan cities, through 

 the gates of which none but the followers of the Prophet 

 durst enter. Kairouan is a town of purely Arabic type, 

 surrounded by a remarkably high vvall. With its beautiful 

 domed Mosques and towering minarets, and its entirely 

 unspoilt appearance, tliis wonderful white city has an 

 atmosphere which it is quite impossible to describe, but 

 which grips one from the moment its ancient gates are 

 entered. Wandering through the streets we often encoun- 

 tered Arabs hawkino- large bunches of Starlinos for sale, 

 evidently netted close to the town and eaten largely by the 

 natives. The loathsome practice of bird-liming is also 

 carried on here, and we saw a number of miserable Corn- 

 Buntings being tortured by their thoughtless youthful 

 captivators in the streets of the town and we hastily put them 

 out of their «misery. Many of the Arabs keep cage-birds, 

 the African Goldfinch being evidently the favourite, though 

 Blackbirds were also seen and occasionally Turtle-Doves. 



On our way to the " Mosque of the Barber " we were 

 interested to see a Southern Little Owl {Athene noctua glaitx) 

 perched on a tomb in the Arab Cemetery, quietl}^ sleeping 

 in the blazing sun. Within a short distance of the Owl the 

 white hunched-up figure of an Arab rocked in prayer, but 

 the bird seemed undisturbed by the proximity of the droning 

 voice. Our Mohammedan guide told us that the '"Booma" 

 — as they call the Little Owl — was a very wicked bird at 

 whose door many vile charges are laid. The bird, he 

 explained, would attack young babies the moment the 

 mother's back was turned, and by swiftly pecking the child's 

 forehead would cause its death unless prevented in time ! 

 This astounding story was evidently implicitly believed in 

 by the narrator, and as he had witnessed such a deed " with 

 his own eyes " it would have been but waste of time to 

 question its authenticity ! 



