316 . BRITISH BIRDS. 
collection with the bird shot by his gamekeeper. An old proverb says 
“that it never rains but it pours.” . On the 31st of December last Gigholi 
wrote to me from Florence that he had secured an example of C. egyptius 
from Sicily, making the sixth recorded occurrence of this bird in Europe. 
The breeding-range of the Isabelline Nightjar is very restricted. Hitherto 
it has only been obtained in Western Turkestan, Baluchistan, Egypt, and 
Nubia. Both Heuglin and Severtzow say that it is only a summer visitor 
to its breeding-grounds, which probably also include Arabia. Its winter-- 
quarters are unknown, but may probably be somewhere in the valley of 
the Upper Nile. 
Scarcely any thing has been recorded of the habits or nidification of 
this, to British ornithologists, now most interesting species. It is a bird 
of the desert and the sand, on which it almost exclusively lives, and where 
its pale isabelline plumage effectually conceals it from enemies. From the 
meagre details of its life-history that have already been published it would 
appear to resemble very closely in its habits our Common Nightjar. Like 
that species it skulks during the day, coming out in search of its meal in 
the twilight. It passes the day crouched low on the sand, where it is said 
to make a little hollow, or amongst cracks and excavations in the earth. 
It is said not to be a very shy bird, and as evening approaches it may be 
seen flitting about on almost noiseless wing chasing insects, and every 
now and then uttering a croaking cry. Severtzow says that the haunts 
this bird affects in Turkestan are the sandy parts of the country, never 
very far from water, and amongst bush and scrubby vegetation. Captain 
Shelley met with it in Egypt, where he says they are most numerous 
in spring and autumn, appearing at these seasons usually in flocks. He 
met with a party of four individuals, all males, in the month of March, 
and suggests that these birds travel to their breeding-grounds in flocks or 
parties of the same sex, and do not pair until their arrival. These four 
birds were sitting on the sand, and when disturbed flew off and took refuge 
amongst some tamarisk-bushes, frequently uttering a slight snapping 
sound as they went. He sometimes saw them flitting over the water near 
sunset. Heuglin also met with this species on migration in April, May, and 
September in Lower Egypt ; and the fact that he only shot females from 
one large flock of more than fifty imdividuals confirms the previously 
expressed opinion that the sexes separate to migrate. He found them 
frequenting the small acacia-groves on the borders of the desert, and also 
amongst the halfa- or ulfa-grass. Here they rise very reluctantly ; and he 
states that they often ran from one bush to another with puffed-out 
throats, uttering their curious cry. 
Very little is known respecting the nidification of the Isabelline 
Nightjar; but now that it has received the dignity of being included in 
the British list, it is very probable that the new and increased interest 
