406 Mr. D. A. Bannerman : First Impressions [Ibis, 



wonderful Ruinmel Grorge (Plate III.), varying in places from 

 330 to 690 £t. in depth and from 230 to ioO ft. in breadth. 

 Its precipitous sides are the breeding-place of countless 

 numbers of Lesser and Common Kestrels, Jackdaws, and 

 Rock-Pigeons. It is, as Dr. Hartert has, I think, already 

 said, one of the few places in the world where one may 

 stand in a busy thoroughfare and gaze down upon all, these 

 birds soaring below, and maybe a Peregrine Falcon will be 

 seen, as I had the luck to see one, dashing under the great 

 suspension bridge (,551 ft. in length and 671 ft, above the 

 river) which leads to the hospital; Egyptian Vultures and 

 Ravens were also seen in the Gorge, and later in the season 

 it is frequented by numerous Alpine Swifts, which, however, 

 had not arrived by the 3rd of March. All round the top of this 

 gorge runs a fine carriage drive, from which is obtained one 

 of the finest views imaginable. To the west and north-west 

 stretches a tremendous valley backed as far as the eye can 

 reach with mountains. Whether viewed under the merci- 

 less rays of the noon-day sun, or during the softer lights 

 at sunset, the panorama is exceedingly beautiful. Pallid 

 Swifts had not yet made their appearance, but on the 1st of 

 March a number of House-Martins, which were certainly not 

 there on the previous days, were seen flying up to their old 

 nests under the eaves of a public building on the ramparts. 

 I counted the nests on this building, and I found 91 old, but 

 for the most part habitable, nests on the front alone. The 

 building had a frontage of 93 ft., two feet of which were 

 occupied by water-pipes. At the back there were 90 nests 

 at least, and on one of the sides 15, while on the other side 

 the architecture did not allow of one nest to be built. The 

 total was the prodigious number of 196 nests on only a 

 moderate-sized building. On the hillside east of the town 

 lies a small forest of fir-trees singularly devoid of bird-life 

 on the day of my visit, while below the River Rummel winds 

 through the wide valley towards El Guerrah, the junction of 

 th'j line to Biskra. Constantine will live in my memory, 

 not only for the unique Rummel Gorge and the marvellous 

 views obtained from the ramparts, but also for the remarkable 



