2718 The Zoologist — August, 1871. 



Algeria. The only other birds which T shall notice are the fan- 

 tail and aquatic warblers [Cisticola sluenicola and Calamodus 

 aquaticus), which perch upon the reeds, and the Aminomanes 

 isabellina : this inconspicuous bird is met with on hill-sides and 

 bare stony plains: in its habits it assimilates to the chats, except 

 that it runs more. Gazelles and jerboas abound, and in the small 

 half-dry marsh there are a good many water tortoises. The ant of 

 the desert digs a curious structure, and perhaps there is not such 

 another place in the world for Coleoptera : beetles of every size 

 and shape swaim. The chameleon is also found, and the deadly 

 viper a come would be common if not rigorously kept down. 

 Large lizards were often brought to me ; one was upwards of three 

 feet long. 



On the 9lh of April, having engaged Mohammed Belhuri and 

 another Arab, with mules, a camel to carry the luggage, and all the 

 necessaries for an expedition into the Mzab country, I quitted the 

 little hotel at Laghouat. Mohammed had called me early, and we 

 were en route by 10 a.m. We had guns and pistols, for the Mzab 

 are sons of desert chieftains, and no Frenchman would think of 

 travelling unarmed among them. The embers of the late rebellion 

 still smoulder. As we rode along I shot my first bifasciated lark 

 {Certhilauda Desertorum). Dr. Tristram truly remarks of this 

 species, *' that although its uniform of inconspicuous drab renders 

 it most difficult of detection on the ground, the moment it extends 

 its wings the broad black bar across the snow-white secondaries 

 attracts the eye, and renders it an easy mark" (Ibis, i. p. 428). By 

 sunset we reached some clumps of trees, — jujubes, terebinths, olive, 

 &c., — all the large ones having raven's nests ; and I may here re- 

 mark that the ravens of Algeria appear to be much smaller than the 

 English ones : they, moreover, breed in society, but this Professor 

 Newton informs mc they always do where they are sufficiently nume- 

 ous. Our camel took fright at the assemblage of ravens, and utterly 

 deserted us with all the baggage, and we passed the night in our 

 thin burnouses on the ground. Mohammed was well nigh distracted 

 when next morning there was no sign of the missing beast. We 

 got breakfast, of which I stood much in need, at some Arab tents : 

 it consisted of dry dates, " couscous," and sheep's milk. Couscous 

 is a kind of broth mixed with half-ground barley, and one of its 

 ingredients is often camels' grease. The rest of the day was spent 

 in vainly searching for the lost camel ; at night we were again the 



