198 Mr. E. G. B. Meade- Waldo— Bird-Notes 



locusts, which must have had a considerable effect on the 

 distribution of the birds, whole districts being denuded of 

 almost every scrap of vegetation and the smaller species 

 being entirely absent. 



On leaving Rabat we came across the Rufous Swallow 

 (Hirundo rufula) for the first time. Several pairs were 

 collecting mud from the road at the South Gate of the town. 

 I did not meet with it again until we reached the villages on 

 the foot-hills of the Atlas, where it was common enough. 

 Between Rabat and Fedulla, Pratincoles {Glareola pratincola) 

 were breeding in all the fields after the manner of our 

 Peewits at home — not in colonies, but in odd pairs ; fallow 

 fields were most usually chosen. On a low rocky island in 

 the sea, separated from the mainland by a channel some 

 200 yards wide, an enormous colony of Buff-backed Herons 

 (Ardea bubidcvs) was breeding. The whole island was abso- 

 lutely covered with nests ; it is hard to compute the numbers 

 of birds, but there must have been some thousands. Many 

 of these were still building their nests on May 28th ; and in 

 the spring of last year (1902), when I passed the breeding- 

 place on April 1st, it was quite deserted. 



After leaving Fedulla we struck inland, and travelled slowly, 

 by way of Bershid, Estat, Ben daud, Wad Gizar, and several 

 places the names of which we could not correctly ascertain, 

 to Beni Meskin. A great part of this country was under corn, 

 but much of it had been ruined by locusts ; parts were more or 

 less desert, and on referring to my notes I see that Harriers and 

 Ravens had disappeared, as well as Calandra Larks. The last 

 two days before arriving at Beni Meskin we passed through 

 scrubby desert, where Lesser Short-toed Larks [Calandrella 

 minor) were observed ; but these and the ubiquitous Crested 

 Lark were the only Larks observed on this ground. Both 

 Black-breasted Sand-Grouse {Pterocles arenarius) and Pin- 

 tailed Sand-Grouse (P. alchata) were common and \ery tame ; 

 and the Cream-coloured Courser (Cursorius gallicus) was 

 noticed, singly or in small flocks: it had apparently finished 

 breeding. We saw no Bustards here; but Eupodotis arabs 

 was described to us from a thick scrub-tract of Zizyphus 



