270 Mr. C. G. Danford on the 



Turtledoves and Cetti^s Warblers were observed ; and our 

 house was the abode of hundreds of Rock- Sparrows {Passer 

 petronius) . On the bare hills near by a good many Horned 

 Larks {Otocorys penicillata) were met Avith. They were evi- 

 dently breeding here ; but having a long stretch to make that 

 day, and expecting to find them further on, we did not stop 

 to look for nests. As often happens in such cases, we never 

 saw them again. 



From Bereketlii to DevelU-kara Hissar (the Black Castle 

 of the Place of Camels) is two good days' march. The way 

 is at first over low hills^ chiefly barren, but having a few trees 

 and hedges near the villages. Little marmot-like animals 

 {Spermophilus xanthoprymnns) swarmed everywhere, and 

 nearly (b'ove our retriever Polo to distraction; he evidently 

 taking them for a small species of rabbit. Magpies built 

 wherever they could find a place ; and in a small marsh were 

 plenty of Black-headed Wagtails, Red-throated Pipits, some 

 Lapwings, and a few Ruddy Sheldrakes, which waddled about 

 in a most unconcerned fashion. After passing the village of 

 Enehiil the country becomes more grassy, and is traversed by 

 long lines of dark igneous rocks, in which breed numbers oi 

 Raptorial birds. 



We halted at the curious little village of Gordilas, which 

 is built half in and half out of the rocks, and plastered every- 

 where with " kerpez " (round dung-cakes) for winter fuel. 

 Before leaving in the morning we visited a nest of Sea-Eagles, 

 which was not yet laid in^ one of Buteo ferox, which con- 

 tained four deeply incubated eggs, and a Golden Eaglets, in 

 which was a very young nestling and a yelkless egg. The 

 female was knocked over with a broken wing, and made with 

 her claws deep impressions on an incautious member of our 

 party. Small birds, particularly of the Lark and SwalloAv 

 tribes, swarm in this locality ; and the Crimson-winged Bull- 

 finch [Erytlirospiza sanguined) was here first observed. Pass- 

 ing through a small rocky valley frequented by Arabian 

 Chats [Saxicola erythraa), one suddenly comes in sight of the 

 Erjdias dagh, the highest mountain of Asia Minor. Its sharp 

 snow-covered cones, and the broad expanse of water and 



