4 Mr. C. W. Wyatt on the Birds of Sinai. 



sidered by the Arabs to be a bird of ill omen, the reverse of 

 what it is in Palestine {vide Ibis, 1865, p. 261). It is certainly 

 a scarce bird in the desert. We only met with it three times 

 while we were there. The Arabs told us that they use the flesh 

 when they are ill as a sort of charm. They put it into the fire 

 and inhale the snioke^. When we first arrived, a flock of 

 Corvus umbrinus was to be seen most mornings in the neigh- 

 bourhood of our camp. They were very shy, and I was not at 

 that time able to get a specimen; and though I tried to trap 

 them, they were too wary, managing to take the bait without being 

 caught. After a few days they all disappeared ; and I did not 

 meet with them again till we were on lower ground. On two 

 occasions I saw on the plain of Er Rahah flocks of a larger 

 Raven, probably Corvus curax. Of the two Partridges, Caccahis 

 heyi and C. saxatilis, the former was by far the most abundant, 

 and was generally to be met with in large coveys, running 

 up the mountain-side at a great pace, and creeping under the 

 rocks and boulders. They feed upon the seeds and buds of 

 various herbs and plants ; but their favourite food seems to be 

 the seed of the shiah, the crops of those I shot being gene- 

 rally found to be full of it. C. saxatilis we did not often 

 meet with. It is much more restricted in its habitat, keeping 

 to the higher wadys. There are more, I think, in Wiidy T'lah 

 than elsewhere. Its food is the same as that of C. heyi. Mota- 

 cilla alba and Ammomanes deserti were generally to be seen 

 within the precincts of our camp; the latter also frequented 

 the plain of Er Rahah in large flocks, and was the commonest 

 bird we had. Three Chats were to be found on this plain — 

 Vromolcea leucocephala and D. leucopyyia, both equally plenti- 

 ful, and Saxicola liigens (Licht.). In Wady T^lah, the warmest 

 wady in the neighbourhood, the monks have a few fruit-trees, 

 j)omegranate, apricot, and so forth, which grow almost in a 

 wild state. There are also a few palms. On the top of one of 

 these one morning I saw, as I was standing under it, a pair of 

 Amydrus tristrami alight. They were uttering cries something 

 like that of the Common Starling, though when this bird is 



* [Another curious instance of the use in India of Owls' flesh as medi- 

 cine has been recorded by Mr. Malan (Zoologist, 1848, p. 2141). — Ed.] 



