THE OOLOGISTS' RECORD. 



Edited by KENNETH L. SKINNER. 



ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 



Vol. I— No. 4.] [December 1, 1921. 



OOLOGICAL NOTES ON SOME OF THE BREEDING 

 BIRDS OF PALESTINE. 



By Capt. C. R. S. Pitman, I.A., M.B.O.U. 



{Continued from p. 38.) 



Brown-necked Raven — Corvtis corax umhriniis. 



I did not actually take any eggs of this species, though I came 

 across many old nests in cliffs in ravines a tew miles north of Jeru- 

 salem, in the cliffs of the Jordan Valley between the Sea of Galilee 

 and the Dead Sea, and in the high and inaccessible cliffs ot the 

 innumerable wadies and ravines which open out into the Jericho 

 Plain from the eastern slopes of the Judean Hills. I have evidence 

 of their breeding in suitable localities throughout the hills of 

 Palestine. 



The nest is of the usual type, though somewhat smaller than 

 that of the British bird, and is generally quite accessible, and often 

 placed in cliffs at no great height from the ground. 



Similarly situated nests were found in Mesopotamia, in the hard 

 sun-baked cliffs of the River Tigris, near Samarra and the River 

 Adhaim. 



The breeding season, I am told, commences in early March, 

 but I did not have the good fortune to visit any nesting haunts 

 at that time of the year. 



This species is resident, though it moves down to the Coastal 

 Plain during the winter. 



Palestine Hooded Crow — Corvtis comix syriacus. 



This species I have found breeding both in the Judean Hills 

 and Coastal Plain, though their habits differ considerably in the 

 two areas. In the hills they are equally fond of olive and other 

 low trees as of tall evergreens ; and they seem to prefer the more 

 secluded valleys and ravines running up into the hills in the same 

 way as Garritlus i^landariiis atricapitlus, and avoid the hill-tops 

 and broad valleys between the larger ranges. In the Coastal Plain 

 they almost invariably build their nests in the tallest eucalyptus 



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