482 Letters, Extracts, Notices, B^c. 



close overhead. They may have been 400 or 500 in number. 

 After thus taking a survey of the land^ in a few minutes 

 they suddenly started off in a long line to the north. The 

 only other migrants we observed during our ride in any great 

 numbers were small flocks of the Continental White Wagtail 

 leisurely working their way to the north, alighting on each 

 hillside as they traversed deep wadys which intercepted their 

 course. 



In the evening, when standing on the mounds of old 

 Jericho, commanding a magnificent view of the Dead Sea 

 and Jordan Valley, we noticed a long black line, apparently 

 level with the crest of the Gilead range opposite, stretching 

 as far as the eye could reach, which was at least 60 miles 

 from south to north. By our field-glasses we at once saw 

 that this line was composed entirely of White Storks. There 

 must have been tens of thousands, for they were nearly an 

 hour in passing us and appeared to be closely packed. It 

 was most interesting to watch every now and then one, two, 

 three, or four birds drop singly out of the mass and rapidly 

 descend to the ground. These evidently were the travellers 

 whose summer home was near the wayside stations of the 

 journey. A pair of these flew right across the valley and 

 settled on a little hill behind us, being the occupants of the 

 ruined castle above. Most, however, appeiired to strike off 

 to the eastward, where, in Bashan and Gilead, tliey breed 

 abundantly. 



When at Ephesus, a fortnight before, I had noticed the 

 remains of Stork-nests upon the top of every column and 

 ruin, and our guide remarked that they would be back in 

 a fortnight. 



I was struck by remarking in Mr. Gray-Hill's book on the 

 Beduin that he, too, had noticed a similar phenomenon on 

 the ICth of March, 1887. 



It was near the full moon that evening, and turning out to 

 gaze at that wondrous black sky and see a molten silver disc 

 below it, I noticed a moving black cloud passing between the 

 moon and myself. The cloud seemed one solid mass, but 

 under the glass resolved itself into serried masses of birds 



