on the Birds of Aden. 31 



80. Pterocles lichtensteini, Temm. ; Yerbury, Ibis, 

 188(5, p. 19; Barnes, Ibis, 1893, p. 1G6. 



I only saw one specimen of this species during my recent 

 visit, and that was among a lot o£ Grouse shot by Mr. Che- 

 vallier near the locality where we met with the large flock in 

 March 1883. I believe this species to be common and resi- 

 dent, or at most only partially migrant ; and the reason of 

 its being so seldom met with is that it is a truly desert form 

 and never visits the fields for the purpose of feeding, like the 

 former species does, but lives on the seeds of various 

 desert plants, e.g. salsola, mimosa, &c., and spends its time 

 where these plants grow. Where and when it drinks is, I 

 confess, a mystery — it cannot be along with P. exustufi, as its 

 peculiar note (a sort of whistle, generally twice repeated) 

 would at once betray it. The Arabs of the Lahej district 

 recognize two species, but call both alike " Uiit-Uht,^'' a name 

 founded presumably on the note of P. exustus, and therefore 

 quite inapplicable to this species. 



VII. GALLING. 



81. Caccabis melanocephala (Riipp.) ; Yerbury, Ibis, 

 1886, p. 19; Barnes, Ibis, 1893, p. 166. 



This species, the '' Ukhob'^ of the Arabs of the district, is 

 still abundant round Haithalhim, and out towards Zaidah in 

 March 1895 the birds were still in coveys and showed no 

 signs of breeding; nor did any of the specimens obtained 

 show breeding-symptoms, whereas those shot and seen in 

 March 1883-84 all alike showed them unmistakably. This 

 may have been due to the unusual dryness of the season in 

 1895, or, I think more probably, to the destruction of the 

 old garden at Haithalhim, with its attendant irrigation- 

 system. This has undoubtedly affected a considerable area, 

 and may have retarded the breeding-season a month or 

 more. 



82. Caccabis chukar, Gray; Barnes, Ibis, 1893, p. 166. 

 I am still doubtful of the existence of this bird in the 



neighbourhood of Aden. 



