1922.] Mr. 1). Ciirrutliers on the Aralnait Oslvirh. 473 



tiiey may have ranged riglit \x\) to tlie frontiers of ]\loab 

 within living memory. Tristram claimed to ])0ssess a skin 

 which had been obtained in the Belka — the deseit frontier 

 of Trans-Jordania. 



Westwards the Ostrich extends to the Heja/, railway. In 

 Tebuk I saw a skin for sale, and in the AVadi Akhdar I saw 

 tracks. We also know of it from Doughty, who in 1877 

 saw "fresh footprints " on the northern edge of the Kheibar 

 (volcanic) Harra. He s;iys 'Mt descends into the plain of 

 Medain Saleh ; I have seen her footing in Ethlib,'' wdiich 

 is a hill in the Hejr plain. Further, while sojourning in the 

 castle at Medain Saleh, hunters brought in eggs which he 

 ate as "a well-tasting omelette"" ; while an Heteym hunter 

 of his acquaintance made his annual income by obtaining 

 two skins against the arrival of the Mecca y)ilgriins. These 

 he sold for 40 to 45 reals each (Maria Theresa crowns). 

 This same hunter once caught two chicks, which grew up in 

 the courtyard of the castle. The Hejaz railway has doubtless 

 expelled the Ostrich from its immediate neighbourhood. 



Central Arabia, Nejd proper, is probably not inhabited by 

 the Ostrich. It has never been recorded, although in certain 

 portions there is no reason why it should not exist. Nor 

 has it been reported from the Persian Gulf side, the Ilasa 

 and Oman coasts. But we know it occurs on the borders of 

 the great southern wilderness — the Ruba el Khali. 



Great interest lies in the present-day conscribed range 

 of the Arabian Ostrich as contrasting with its wide habitat in 

 comparatively recent times. It may well have been named 

 "syriacus'^ in those days, for it roamed over the whole 

 Syrian desert, right up to the banks of the Euphrates. 

 Nowadays the Ostrich is purely Arabian, for it is generally 

 accepted that the undefined boundary between Arabia proper 

 and Syria is the 30tli parallel of latitude. The desert triangle 

 north uf this line, whieh extends right u]> to Alejipo and is 

 bounded by the Euphrates on the east and the settled lands 

 of Syria and l*alestine on the west, cannot be considcucd as 

 anything but Syrian, although it is often misnamed Arabian. 

 Over this whole region, which is haid step})e, without any 



