THE BIRDS OF MESOPOTAMIA, 219 
would seem to be that having “‘ made ” the oasis of Shaiba and found nothing 
but limitless bare desert beyond, they had decided to make the river again and 
coast on up the Gulf and cross inland elsewhere. 
Besides the general north to south, south to north migrations there must be, 
we think, with some species, an east and west migration and vice versa, by which 
such species as the Blackheaded Bunting and Rosy Pastor reach their breeding 
grounds but details of this we know little of. There are, of course, too many 
local migrations as with the Pintailed Sand Grouse, which probably are influenced 
by food supply, and those of the Gullsand Terns moving to their breeding 
grounds. 
It should not be inferred, of course, that the majority of birds make the com- 
plete journey from the far north through Mesopotamia to Africa ; comparatively 
few attempt this, and our migrants may be roughly grouped into the following 
divisions :— 
A. There are some which breed in the far north and in winter come no: 
further south than the Caspian ; as example of this is the Redwing. 
B. Others nesting north of Persia come further south and winter in Meso- 
potamia such as many of the ducks and waders, some of the Pipits, the 
Short-eared Owl], Siberian Chiffchaff, and Dark-backed Herring Gull. 
C. Others nesting north of Persia are passage migrants through Mesopo- 
tamia and winter in Africa such as many of the Cuckoos, Swallows, 
Warblers, Wagtails. 
D. Another group nesting in Persia merely descend to the Mesopotamian 
plains to winter, among them are the Imperial Sand Grouse, Wheatears 
of several species, Persian Robins, Sharpe’s Crow, Black Kite, Griffon, 
Vulture, etc. 
E. Another group are summer visitors to Mesopotamia and go in some 
eases hardly north of this, and winter in Africa, such as the Blue-cheeked 
Bee-eater. 
R. E. C. 
5. CHARACTER OF THE AviraAuNA—This is undoubtedly Palearctic, the 
majority of the breeding species belonging to Palearctic genera, such as 
Aidon, Hypolais, Sylvia, Passer, Pica, Acrocephalus, Melanocorypha, etc., 
but a few Indian species have spread west along the Persian Gulf as far as 
Mesopotamia, such as Coracias benghalensis, Pycnonotus leucotis, Prinia 
lepida, Porphyrio poliocephalus, Gymnorhis flavicollis, Sarcogrammus indicus, 
Gallinula c. parvifrons. In winter and on the migrations, Mesopotamia is the 
meeting ground of East and West ; thus we may find Phylloscopus collybita, 
tristis. and trochilus all frequenting the same bushes; Calandrella minor minor 
and m. heinei associating in the same flock ; Phenicurus phenicurus and ph. 
mesoleuca ; P. ochruros with phenicuroides ; Saxicola r. rubicola with maura ; 
Turdus merula syriacus with intermedius ; while Streptopelia turtur arenicola 
comes to breed, S. ¢. turtur is a passage migrant through the country. So too 
one finds different races passing through to reach their different breeding grounds 
in the north, such as Motacilla f. thunbergi in the far north, campestris and dom- 
browskyi to further south of this and so on. Here too in Mesopotamia probably 
is the meeting ground, roughly speaking, of the breeding areas of some closely 
allied races, as of the Blue Rock Thrush, See-See, Little Owl, Swallow, ete., but 
details of this cannot yet be worked out. 
On the other hand Africa supplies a few birds such as Th. ethiopicus, Plotus 
rufus, Ceryle rudis while Phyrrhulauda frontalis, Dromas ardeola, Aleemon alau- 
dipes, Podiceps capensis and Pterocles lichtensteini are Indo-African species. 
Of widely distributed species it will be found generally that it is an eastern 
race which visits Mesopotamia in winter and on passage, and besides receiving 
migrants from Persia and the far north many must come from far more eastwards: 
