560 Mr. D. A. Baiinerraan on the 



Guanarteme, and excellent sport can be Lad by waiting for 

 these sporting birds as they fly from the country to their 

 strongliold in the cliffs. In the Monte they are not neaily 

 so plentiful as they are in the south of the island^ where 

 they literally swarm in thousands. In the summer months 

 Swallows and House-Martins visit Gran Canaria in fair num- 

 bers ; but they are seldom seen before July, and de|)art very 

 soon, not remaining to breed. Owls (Asio otiis canariensis) 

 are rare; 1 have met with them at Tafira. The Barn-Owl is 

 very scarce indeed_, and I have never seen one in the flesh. 

 The Hoopoe, in this part of the island, is rarely observed in 

 any numbers in the winter, but later in the year is said to 

 occur commonly in the garden of the Santa C-atalina Hotel 

 at Las Pal mas. 



Between the Isleta and the town of Las Palmas a curious 

 tract of drifted sand is to be found, and beyond it a dry 

 elevated plateau stretches towards Tafira. On this arid, 

 sun-baked ground few birds are to be seen save Berthclot's 

 Pi|)it, occasional flocks of the Trumpeter Bullfinch, the Short- 

 toed Lark, and several pairs of the Norfolk Plover. Vege- 

 tation consists chiefly of Eitpliorbin, the three commonest 

 species being E. regis, E. aphijlla, and E. obtvsifoHa, besides 

 various other desert-loving plants such as Laimcea spinusa 

 and Plocama pendula. 



Division II. — The Cwnbres. 

 (Plate X. fig. 1.) 



As might be ex[)ected, in these mountain solitudes bird- 

 life is remarkably scarce, and is chiefly represented by the 

 Ila])tores : Vultures, Kites, Buzzards, and Kestrels all being 

 very plentiful. When encamped close to the Roque Nublo 

 in February 1911, at an altitude of 5000 ft., I was much 

 struck by the many Rock-Partridges {Caccahis ritfii) to 

 be found at this height. On every side of the ravine they 

 were calling one to the other, the birds silhouetted against 

 the sky on the highest pinnacles they could find. While at 

 this camp I noticed several large flocks of Canaries, and 

 again when encamped still liigher up on a plateau 5650 ft. 



