Mr. C. W. Wyatt on the Birds of Sinai. 5 



really singing, as I have since heard him in Wjicly Eciran ami 

 amongst the clefts of Petra, I think I never heard a more beau- 

 tiful songster. Every morning, as soon as the sun rose np, 

 the plain of Er Rahah was enlivened by the presence of Dry- 

 moeca eremita, hopping about among the herbs and plants; and 

 some cold mornings they were so tame that it seemed as if they 

 might almost be caught in a butterfly-net. The way in which 

 they dropped their wings and cocked their tails reminded me 

 of the Wren of our own gardens and woodlands. This 

 little bird is truly an inhabitant of the wild and desolate, 

 having its home amongst the bare mountains of the Sinaitic 

 peninsula, as well as at Petra, where it is not uncommon, creep- 

 ing amongst the retem-bushes that now grow among the ruins 

 and mounds of rubbish, and in the ravines in the neighbour- 

 hood of the Dead Sea, where it was first discovered by Mr. Tris- 

 tram a few years since (Ibis, 1867, p. 76). Ruticilla tit hys wan 

 not uncommon — or rather the cock bird, for I only once saw 

 the hen ; but lower down the mountain the sexes seemed to 

 be equally distributed. Of FringiUidce we found two sjjecies, 

 Serinus hortulorum and Carpodacus sinaiticus. The former 

 was scarce ; but the latter was generally to be found on the 

 plain of Er Rahah, and in the neighbouring wadys, feeding on 

 the seeds of the shiah and other plants. 



On New Yearns Day our camp was struck, and we proceeded 

 down the pass of Nubk-el-Hawy on foot, while the camels with 

 our luggage went round by Wady Esh Sheikh. By the pass 

 we entered Wiidy Solaf, down which we travelled until we 

 reached Wady Feiran, making altogether a three days' journej-, 

 and, descending some 2800 feet into a much warmer climate, 

 all real cold was left behind, though it was still chilly in the 

 early morning. 



The oasis of Feiran, at the lower end of which we pitched 

 our tents, is shut in by lofty mountains. Palm-trees extend 

 for a couple of miles up the wady, intermingled with the nebuk 

 [Rham7ius. nabeca) and tamarisk. Not far from our tents there 

 was a small stream, which, after running a short distance, lost 

 itself in the bed of the wady. On all sides were to be seen the 

 uprooted palms prostrated by the "seil" or flood of last year. 



