Birds of the Canary Islands. 9 



light-coloured tarsi was " ticking " in every direction^ a note 

 I never heard from our bird. E-abbits were fairly common, 

 and the common rat and the house-mouse lived in the highest 

 mountain-forests. I also saw a small bat_, with short ears 

 and fur of a bright chestnut colour. 



On March 20th I started with a friend from Tenerife, en 

 route for Fuerteveutura, and taking a schooner from Las 

 Palmas, in Grand Canary, found ourselves under the high 

 peaks of Jandia at daybreak on the 22nd. Those who have 

 travelled among the Canary Islands will know that this was 

 good work. We had a fair wind — plenty of it — and we had 

 just caught the schooner, which started the day and hour it 

 was timed to start ! As we coasted along, the island looked 

 far more mountainous than I had expected it would be ; but 

 after a time a peep through the mountains showed inland a 

 large plain, and as there was a nice beach for landing we 

 asked the "padron " the name of the place ; he told us Gran 

 Tarajal, and that we could land there if we liked. This we 

 agreed to, and very soon we were on the beach of Fuerte- 

 ventura, an island I had longed to visit more than any 

 other. We had a letter of introduction to a farmer in 

 a village, which we found to be only nine miles inland ; 

 thither we determined to go, and hiring camels on the 

 beach — some peasants had come down on seeing our boat 

 — we started up a valley in which was a dry river-bed, with 

 a quantity of tamarisk growing on its banks, almost the only 

 coveit I saw in the island. 



Here Sylvia melanocephala and S. conspidllata were abun- 

 dant, and soon afterwards I saw Sand Grouse, Cream-coloured 

 Coursers, quantities of Short-toeu Larks, Berthelot's Pipits, 

 some E,ock Pigeons, and Egyptian Vultures. On arriving 

 :>t our destination, Tuineje, where we hoped to be taken in, 

 we picsented our letter, and, though utterly unexpected, 

 " Don Lucas de Saa " turned out of his best room and made 

 us as comfortable as possible, as his guests. In a very short 

 time his wife, hearing what I had come for, presented me 

 with the handsomest pair of Houbara Bustard's eggs [Otis 

 undalata) that I got on the island. They are taken by the 



