﻿84 
  Dr. 
  11. 
  W. 
  Shufeldt 
  on 
  

  

  A 
  pair 
  frequented 
  the 
  Sapper 
  parade-ground 
  at 
  Steamer 
  

   Point 
  during 
  the 
  whole 
  of 
  July, 
  and 
  evidently 
  had 
  a 
  nest 
  

   somewhere 
  near, 
  which 
  for 
  a 
  long 
  time 
  baffled 
  all 
  my 
  

   efforts 
  to 
  find 
  it. 
  After 
  some 
  long 
  and 
  persevering 
  attempts 
  

   I 
  at 
  last 
  discovered 
  it. 
  In 
  a 
  corner 
  of 
  the 
  parade-ground 
  there 
  

   was 
  a 
  clump 
  of 
  half-dead 
  portulaca 
  plants 
  and 
  stunted 
  

   salsola 
  bushes, 
  and 
  in 
  a 
  natural 
  depression 
  in 
  the 
  ground, 
  

   under 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  plants, 
  the 
  nest 
  was 
  placed; 
  it 
  was 
  well 
  

   hidden. 
  

  

  Golf 
  is 
  extensively 
  played 
  on 
  this 
  and 
  the 
  surrounding 
  

   maidans, 
  and 
  the 
  nest 
  being 
  in 
  a 
  direct 
  line 
  between 
  two 
  

   holes, 
  the 
  ground 
  all 
  round 
  was 
  much 
  tramped 
  upon, 
  and 
  

   some 
  clumsy 
  golfer, 
  just 
  before 
  I 
  found 
  the 
  nest, 
  had 
  put 
  

   his 
  foot 
  on 
  it 
  and 
  smashed 
  the 
  eggs 
  ; 
  from 
  the 
  fragments 
  I 
  

   believe 
  there 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  two, 
  and 
  that 
  they 
  were 
  slightly 
  

   incubated. 
  It 
  seems 
  strange 
  that 
  the 
  birds 
  did 
  not 
  desert 
  

   the 
  spot 
  earlier. 
  

  

  This 
  was 
  the 
  only 
  nest 
  I 
  found. 
  

  

  63. 
  MiEAFRA, 
  sp. 
  inc. 
  

  

  A 
  Bush 
  Ijark, 
  but 
  of 
  what 
  species 
  I 
  cannot 
  say, 
  is 
  some- 
  

   times 
  met 
  with 
  in 
  the 
  salsola 
  jungle 
  near 
  Shaik 
  Othman 
  ; 
  

   but 
  it 
  is 
  not, 
  I 
  think, 
  a 
  permanent 
  resident. 
  

  

  Besides 
  this 
  there 
  is 
  one, 
  if 
  not 
  two, 
  other 
  species 
  of 
  

   Larks 
  of 
  which 
  I 
  failed 
  to 
  procure 
  specimens. 
  

  

  [To 
  be 
  coutiuued.J 
  

  

  YII. 
  — 
  Comparative 
  Notes 
  on 
  the 
  Swifts 
  and 
  Humming-birds. 
  

   By 
  R. 
  W. 
  Shufeldt, 
  M.D 
  , 
  C.M.Z.S. 
  

  

  There 
  are 
  still 
  to 
  be 
  found 
  among 
  living 
  systematic 
  orni- 
  

   thologists 
  some 
  who 
  contend 
  that 
  the 
  Humming-birds 
  [Tro- 
  

   chili) 
  are 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  nearly 
  related 
  to 
  the 
  Swifts 
  (Cypseli), 
  

   following, 
  as 
  they 
  do, 
  the 
  erroneous 
  idea 
  of 
  former 
  natu- 
  

   ralists 
  who 
  had 
  but 
  very 
  meagre 
  notions 
  of 
  the 
  structural 
  

   characters 
  of 
  birds. 
  It 
  would 
  seem 
  better, 
  however, 
  for 
  the 
  

   ornithologists 
  of 
  these 
  days, 
  to 
  whom 
  I 
  refer, 
  frankly 
  to 
  

   confess 
  that 
  they 
  are 
  not 
  as 
  yet 
  in 
  possession 
  of 
  a 
  sufficient 
  

   array 
  of 
  facts 
  to 
  decide 
  definitely 
  upon 
  the 
  affinities 
  of 
  such 
  a 
  

   group 
  of 
  birds 
  as 
  the 
  Humming-birds, 
  than 
  it 
  is 
  to 
  blindly 
  

  

  