402 Mr. D. A. Bannerman : First Imp^'essions [Ibis, 



collected a large series here. Typical exani})les o£ both 

 Passer hispaniolensis h'lspaniolensis and P. domesticus tingi- 

 taaus were obtained by them, and their remarks on the 

 interoradino' of these two forms as observed at Hammam- 

 Meskoutine will be found in Nov. Zool. xviii. 1912, p. 4bl). 

 I had the advantage of having a copy of this paper with me, 

 and with the aid of my powerful field-glasses was able to 

 match from live birds under my observation quite a number 

 of the Sparrows' heads depicted in PI. xi. of the paper cited. 

 The Redbreasts puzzled me somewhat. They appeared very 

 pale-breasted, but then I am used to watching the fine 

 Erithacxis ruhecula superhus of certain of the Canary Islands, 

 with its rich coloured breast. Mr. Jourdain believed that 

 most of the Robins which Mr. Wallis met with at Hammam- 

 Meskoutine in 1910 were migrants from I'hirope. Dr. 

 Hurtert, in addition to many typical specimens, shot an 

 example of E. r. luitherhyi at this place in February 1911. 

 I confess I am unable to tell this race apart in life. 



So many ornithologists have worked in this district that 

 the birds of the neighbourhood are now comparatively well 

 known. A short description of the surrounding country 

 may, however, be of interest to those who have not seen it 

 for themselves. Hammam-Meskoutine lies in the northern 

 Atlas range at a height of 1312 ft. In the vicinity of the 

 hotel the country is very open, and in February wonderfully 

 green, the wide valleys are everywhere sown with corn, the 

 lower hill-slopes covered with grass for grazing or planted 

 with olive-trees, which in some directions cover the hillsides 

 as far as the eye can reach. Hot springs bubble up in many 

 places, and the water, which issues from the ground at a 

 temperature of 205° F., finds its way through a tangle of 

 luxuriant vegetation down the bed of the valley, its course 

 clearly visible by the constantly rising steam. Great clumps 

 of palm-trees grow luxuriantly in these valleys, their presence 

 appearing somewhat incongruous in this typically park-like 

 landscape (Plate II. fig. 1). On all sides mountains rise 

 in the distance, covered closely with scrub four or five feet 

 in height, or else bare save for the scant coarse grass which 



