508 Mr. E. G. Meade- Waldo on (he 



many times in the same place, and from their behaviour, I am 

 inclined to think that they contemplated breeding there. All 

 birds were later this year than last in breeding, with, perhaps, 

 the exception of the Chat and the Thick-knee. The Sand 

 Grouse {Pterocles arenarius) had only commenced to lay 

 March 16th, and it was the exception to find an egg. They 

 were still in flocks, a pair being occasionally seen together. 

 The cock when making up to the hen spreads his tail, and 

 also sweeps it on the ground, like a cock Pigeon, at the same 

 time making a purring noise. In this and in drinking they 

 somewhat resemble the Pigeons, but they drink as if they 

 did not know how to do it, putting their heads into the water, 

 and after holding it in for a second or two, tilting it up with 

 the mouth oj)en for a drop or two to run down by chance. 

 The large, soft, and odorous intestines are very Grouse- 

 like, and the scent emitted from them resembles that of 

 Lagopus scoticus. They fill their crops with creeping trefoil 

 morning and evening, and also eat large quantities of a small 

 Mescmhryanthemum, called by the natives "^cosco."" The 

 Houbara is also very fond of it. It is dried, stacked, and 

 made into '' Gafio " by the inhabitants of the island, I have 

 tasted it : it tastes something betAveen ashes and sand. Both 

 the Sand Grouse and the Houbara Bustard are great eaters 

 of salt. 



I only saw one specimen of the sand-coloured Shrike this 

 year, and that was one that Canon Tristram shot. It proved 

 that they retain the sandy plumage after the first moult, as 

 his bird is an old male, and I am sure that those I saw last 

 year were adult. My young sand-coloured bird, however, 

 moulted in England into a pure grey-backed white-breasted 

 Lanius algeriensis. 



I was but little on the sea-coast this year, but picked up a 

 dead Gannet, apparently adult, but with a black tail. I saw 

 two or three old Gannets with black tails flying off' the coast, 

 and a young one that looked like Sula bassana. I saw 

 nothing of the Black Oyster-catcher {Hcematopus capensis), 

 but a boy who brought some eggs and a few skins to Tenerife 

 for Don Ramon Gomez had five specimens of it; he said they 



