130 ANIMAL LIFE IN DESERTS 



plain with every wind, and winds are frequent, 

 and a miniature dune is formed ; the plant is partly 

 protected by the surrounding sand, but the latter 

 runs down from the top and threatens to suffocate 

 the plant, so that it strives for air and grows up- 

 wards, dying off at the lower end. Thus the hiUock 

 grows and grows and is crowned with a plant, imtil 

 the latter dies off and a little mountain remains. 

 These sandhills, hardened more and more in the 

 course of time, form the centres of all the animal 

 life except some of the birds. In these hillocks a 

 rodent, Meriones getulus, the Djerd of the Arabs, 

 makes its holes, which are used for nesting by 

 CEnanthe (Saxicola) moesta, and are sometimes in- 

 habited by the dreaded, deadly Asp {Cerastes 

 cornutus), the Lefa of the Arabs, and a beautiful, 

 harmless snake, Zamenis diadema. In these hillocks 

 one sees disappearing the pretty Hzard, Acantho- 

 dactylus scutellatus, and in them hides the nocturnal 

 Gecko, Stenodactylus guttatus. Also the beetles, 

 the common Anthia sexmaculata and Graphipterus, 

 and the rare and gigantic Anthia venator, as well as 

 some Tenebrionidse, disappear among these hillocks, 

 the former with wonderful swiftness. In this sandy 

 plain also, stony patches occur, Kke little islands 

 in the sea of sand, and on these is found the pale 

 Crested Lark (Galerida theUce deichleri). Along the 

 roads and on the sand we see another species of 

 Crested Lark {G. cristata arenicola), which it is 

 almost impossible to miss, while the first form is 

 easily overlooked when one does not know exactly 

 where to search for it; this was the reason why 



