The Zoologist— August, 1871. 2719 



guests of the hospitable Arabs. I noticed several pairs of bush- 

 chals {S(ixicoIaphilopJithamua), which, from being unmolested, had 

 learnt to hop among the Arab tents, feeding upon what they found 

 among the small stones, &c. 



Next morning, to add to our misfortune, the mules had departed. 

 The intolerable stupidity of the Arabs, in not tying their beasts, is 

 beyond belief. When at length the mules were recovered, the 

 wind was so strong we could hardly mount them. We now began 

 to pass through a vast plain, slightly undulating, interspersed with 

 dayats, each a mile or half-a-mile apart. I saw many birds which 

 I did not know, but we could not stop after them. I shot one small 

 bird not unlike a whitethroat, which, I have no doubt, was a 

 spectacled warbler {Sylvia conspicillata): I have the following 

 note of it in my pocket-book : — " Spectacled warbler, with the 

 spectacle faint, and a blush of pink on the breast; eye the colour 

 of a whitethroat's." Nearly every terebinth, of any size, carried 

 several nests, and the smaller trees wpre occupied in like propor- 

 tion. I may here give Dr. Tristram's definition of a " dayat." — " An 

 unimprovable oasis, in which there is no constant supply of water 

 to be found at any depth." About noon we came to water; it was 

 dirty, but drinkable : a gazelle quitted it as we approached : we 

 often saw these graceful animals, but they were very wild. As we 

 rode along the desert-horned lark {Otocorys bilopha) ran before us 

 like a little plover. Two birds, which I do not doubt were cream- 

 coloured coursers [Cursorius isabellinus), flew before our mules, 

 and I twice saw what, unless I am greatly mistaken, was a benighted 

 wryneck {Yunx torquilla) crouching upon the arid plain. 



'I'hat night we were forced to sleep out again in the open air. 

 The Arabs kindled a fire, but it was bitterly cold. The wind had 

 got up during the day, and I had only a thin burnous (for my wraps 

 were on the camel). At 9 p.m. it rained in torrents ; of course our fire 

 was speedily extinguished. The wind now howled over the Sahara : 

 vivid lightning shot across the sky, accompanied by loud peals of 

 thunder. In vain we shifted to the other side of the bush : every- 

 thing was a complete sop. We were in the saddle again before 

 daybreak, but my wet burnous hung on me like a dead weight. 

 Some enormous griffon vultures were observing us at a little dis- 

 tance, but my hands were so benumbed that I could hardly hold 

 the bridle, much less load my gun. The heavy rains of the preceding 

 night seemed to have converted the Sahara into mud. 



