( 62) 

 80. Otus scops scops (L.). 



Cf. Nni\ ZjnT. xviii. p. 530. 



When we came to Tonggonrt, where these Owls were coramnn in April 1009, 

 we looked oat in vain for them, and we saw none in Ouargla, where we were 

 told that they did not occnr. In El-Golea, however, they were exceedingly 

 common dnring onr stay in March. On some days there mnst have been dozens 

 in the officers' gardens alone, sometimes four and five were found in one tree, 

 and they sat even on small trees in the courtyard of the fort. At night they 

 were very noisy; in addition to its single-noted melancholy call, which resembles 

 that of Bnmhimifnr 'Kjiicna and A/i/fe.s, one heard a louder, gayer one, and 

 sometimes one or two syllables, reminding one of the note of an Athi'iie. 



In the Southern Ouod Myii the remains of a Scops Owl which Inid evidently 

 been eaten by a bird of prey were found. 



When we came back to El-6olea, late in May, our friends had gone, tliough 

 a single pair was at last heard in the oasis, where it nested, no doubt. We 

 are not sure if these Owls nest in Ghardaia, as we did not visit tiie far-off oasis 

 liy night, but none were heard near the hotel and fortress. 



In the Oued Nca they were rare, but a nest was found witli three hard-set 

 eggs in a hole of a huge Terebinth-tree on June 4. 



81. Gyps fulvus (Gm.). 



Cf. .V'"'. Ziiiil. xviii. ]i. .'(.■SO. 



We saw 11 single spcciraeu sailing along the mouiitaiu range east of (ihardaia 

 on June '.l. Both Hilgert and I had a good look at it through onr glasses, so 

 that our identification was absolutely certain. 



[We were vciy disappointed not to see a sign of any otlier large Vultures 

 in the Sahara. Paul Spatz, however, brought home four eggs taken in JIarch 

 1808 at a place eallid Kl-Anagied, said to be about a hundred miles S.S.E. of 

 Bir Aouine in the Tunisian desert. He was not allowed to j)roceed farther than 

 Bir Aouine, but he sent his shikari AM there, who brought the four eggs, but 

 unfortunately no remains of the parent birds. The eggs are in the Erlanger 

 (Jollectiou in Ingelheim. They are spotted, and agree with many eggs of Aegijjiiim 

 monachus* (L.), tiiough fhey are not as thick and as richly marked as some 

 of the eggs of the latter species. They measure 88 x 71, 91 x ()9, 'JO'o x C), and 

 90 X 05-5 mm. There is therefore no reason why they should not be the eggs 

 of Acgi/piits monuchus (L.), tliough those of Otogijpa (atricubiris are api)arently 

 very similar iti size and markings. In no case caa they be anything else than 

 Acffi/jiitts, or possibly (Voiji/pit.'] 



S"-'. Neophron percnopterus percnopterus (L.). 



Cf. yov. Ztml. xviii. p. 531. 



Scarce in the Sahara, but single specimens seen at intervals as far south as 

 the southernmost Oued Mya, where, however, one or two young birds only were 

 observed, one of which was at last shot. 



* Hitherto c.illed VuUur vtonachus, but in no case can this species be looked upon as the tvpe of 

 " Vultiir," as it was nut incluiled in the genus wlien that was first established, in 175S. 



