4G8 Mr. G. Despott on the [Ibis, 



at the end of February, and specimens are to be met with 

 until the end of May. In the autumn they begin to arrive in 

 September and continue to do so until the end of October, 

 and sometimes even late in November the birds are still 

 to be seen. I have seen specimens taken in December, 

 but I consider such an occurrence as quite occasional 

 and rare. 



151. (151) Caprimulgus aegyptius aegyptius Licht. The 

 Egyptian Nightjar. 



Local name : Buhrajk abjad. 



Giglioli reports three specimens taken in these islands. 

 According to Count Arrigoni these were obtained in the 

 spring of 1876, two of them being in the Valletta Museum 

 and the other in the Museum at Florence. Besides these I 

 know of several other specimens taken in Malta, but I never 

 handled one in the flesh before the spring of 1916, when I 

 obtained two in the Valletta Market ; about one of these I 

 published a note in the ' Zoologist' of the 15th May, 1916. 

 Of the two specimens sent to me by Dr. G. Cachia Zammit 

 in the spring of 1911, only the Avings had been saved ; the 

 rest was consigned to the pot. 



152. (150) Caprimulgus ruficollis desertorum Erl. The 

 Algerian Red-necked Nightjar. 



Local name : Bukrajk ahmar. 



Wright records two specimens taken in the island ; the 

 first was shot at Imtahleb at the end of May 1860 ; the 

 second on the 12th of May, 1865. Mackay mentions two 

 specimens seen by him in Mr. Micallef's collection about 

 twenty years ago ; the way, however, Mackay puts his 

 statement makes me doubt much whether the birds seen by 

 him really belong to this species. I have never met with 

 the species myself, and have, moreover, been assured that four 

 specimens which were picked up in the Valletta Market in 

 1908 by Mr. Micallef were imported, together with other 

 game, from the north-east of Africa. The local name is 

 the one by which Mr. Micallef called his specimens. 



