( 4) 



From Bleclet-Ahmar we raadp ii Ions,' marcli and jiitoliod camp iii a sandy 

 [iliiin. All the way led throngh low, rolling sand-hills, like the I'rozcn waves of 

 the sea in a quiet " swell," intermixed with stones an<l pehblos, lint there were 

 hardly any dunes. The sand was, for desert sand, fairly rich in vegetation, the 

 bushes of llctama rrietam reaching a height of two metres ; lAmniiiagtrum 

 fltu/oHiaimm was flourishing, but not yet in flower, the " Drin " (.l/vW/c/^t /;//«//«/(.<) 

 being frequent, KHphorhia gui/oiiiaiia and many liltle flowering plants of which 

 I do not know the names. The birds peculiar to such districts, Alaemon alaudi/ies 

 with its melancholy song, the pretty Si/lc/a nam di-snrti bopping in and out the 

 bushes, here and there Amiiwimnm jihoeniciirKH arenicolor running along the 

 ground and almost invisible at even a short distance, because it so ])erfoctly 

 matches the colour of the sand and stones. Twice the somewhat rare desert- 

 sparrow. Passer simplex saharae, was seen and shot, once Gnlerida theklae 

 (Irichleri, and a Raven, which, however, was too shy for ns. We jiassed a very poor 

 village, half engulfed in sand, many houses forsaken, the palms of a poor 

 appearance, the water rather ba<I and not very clean. In the palm-trees iMiiiui 

 uxcuhitor i'lri/((iis was seen. The night had been cold, bnt the day was warm. 

 Insects and reptiles were rather scarce, while later on in the year many more are 

 obvious. We saw here and there a Pt/ianifis carilui sailing wiMly across the jiadi, 

 and once a Pieris dnplidice (snbsp.). 



The caraj), in the clean sandy [ilain, was very peaceful and pii(nresi)ne. A 

 liliizofroijaa-Wka beetle flew round the fires at night, bnt I he Inw temperature with 

 a bright moon spoiled the catch of le])idoiitera. 



On March 5 we left the sandy tract and encountered a bare gravel-jilain with 

 very scanty vegetation. No birds enlivened it except Ammomancs phoenicurus 

 arenicolor, here and there a forlorn Alaemon alaudipes and the (Jreara-colonreil 

 (Jursor. In spite of the short time before moonrisc and the bare surroundings, 

 some Noctuidae and I'yralidae came to the light at our camp at the liassi 

 Mahmar. The country from Hassi Mahniar onwards remains the same, only still 

 barer, and interspersed with stony jiatches and low flat-topped table-hills, where 

 Erylhrospiza giihatjiiica occurs. An hour before the Hassi Arefidji sand-waves 

 with huge Hetam-bushes, Urin and Eujihorbia set in. Here Grey Shrikes were 

 common, and their eggs talcen ; Crnteropm fuliiix and Si/lcifi iiaii'i, drserti, also 

 Galeridu theklae deiclderi became (jnite numerous. A female of Dcnanthe 

 (Saxicola) deserti and a flight of about 30 Calandrella hrarhi/darh/lti. on passage 

 were seen. It was again a grand uight, and we ho|)ed for a good collecting day 

 along the sands, but unfortunately next morning the wind began to blow and 

 made collecting very difiicult; moreover about lo km. farther we got out of the 

 beautiful sand-waves and ha<l to cross a tiresome sebcha with Snlsolaccae only ; 

 towards midday sand-dunes ajipeared, but at the same time tin; wind became 

 stronger and so boisterous that we sometimes thought it would blow us over with 

 our camels, and that one could not see a hundred yards ahead. Tiius we reached 

 the miserable village of Ngoussa, or Bonr-Ngoussa, which reminded us strongly of 

 El-Oned, surrounded as it was by sand-dunes and the jialm-gardens half hidden 

 from siglit by depressions among the hills. In the morning we had found a nejt 

 with four eggs of Scotocerca inqnieta saharae and shot a (Uderida theldae deichleri 

 which had, apparently, already laid eggs. 



It must here be emphasized that south of Hassi Arefidji Crc.'^ted Larks were 

 seen for the last time, and that in all the country sonth from there no Crested 



