82 Mr. J. J. S. Whitaker on some Tunisian Birds. 



On arriving at Gafsa I visited the Caid, and presented a 

 corameudatory letter from the French Resident at Tunis, 

 with which I had taken the precaution to provide myself, 

 and which at once secured us lodgings in the guest-house 

 reserved for such occasions. The next morning I paid a 

 visit to the Gafsa oasis in search of birds, but only succeeded 

 in obtaining specimens of FringiUa spodiogena, which was very 

 abundant here, and of one or two other birds. I saw a good 

 many specimens of Turtur senegalensis, but did not obtain 

 one. The Gafsa oasis is rather more than a mile in length by 

 about half a mile at its greatest width, and, besides date- 

 palms, contains several thousands of other fruit-trees, with 

 a most luxuriant undergrowth of cereals and vegetables, all 

 watered abundantly by a warm spring, which has its rise in 

 the town. This spring was, I believe, celebrated in the 

 time of the Romans, its waters being used both for drinking 

 and bathing purposes. I saw several fishes in one of the tanks 

 (probably Cyprinodon dispar) . On my return to the town, I 

 visited the Mosque, which is here accessible to visitors, and 

 while there I saw for the first time Emberiza saharm, one of 

 which was on a window-sill within a yard of me. Later on 

 in the day I obtained specimens of this interesting species. 



I should have liked to spend another day or two at 

 Gafsa, but my time being short, I left again on the 8th of 

 March for Tamerza, some 70 miles due west, and encamped 

 that evening on a high plain near Ain-Tfel. During the 

 day I met with Saxicola mcesta for the first time, and Ammo- 

 manes deserti. Alauda macrorhyncha was also abundant 

 about here. The following day we reached El Araissa, after 

 some of the stiffest mountain travelling it is possible to 

 imagine, and encamped on an open grass-plot near water, 

 the first we had come across since leaving Gafsa. On our 

 way I saw a pair of Otis tarda and attempted a stalk, but 

 without success. I also saw several small flocks of Pterocles 

 arenarius and one or two pairs of Neophron percnopterus. 

 The next day, accompanied by a native sportsman, I tried 

 the surrounding mountains thoi'oughly for mouflon, but 

 without any luck, all the animals I saw being a pair of 



