72 Rev. H. B. Tristram on the Ornithology of Palestine. 



and most of them exclusively, in the Ghor or Jordan valley. 

 There appears to be no difference in the fauna on either side of this 

 isolated strip of the tropics. The same birds, the Wood-Pigeons, 

 Jays, and Woodpeckers of Carmel, equally abound in the forests 

 of Gilead and Bashan ; and I never obtained, or observed, on the 

 highlands east of the Jordan a single species which we did not 

 also secure on the western side, with the one exception of the 

 Saker Falcon, a truly desert-loving Raptor. 



It is between these two ranges that the ornithological treasures 

 of Palestine are to be sought for ; and I trust the Editor will 

 forgive me for a somewhat irregular proceeding, in deferring, for 

 the present, a systematic and annotated catalogue of the birds 

 of Palestine, and plunging at once, after this long and dreary 

 preliminary excursus, worthy of the ' Hierozo'icon ' of Bochart 

 himself, into the details of the life and death, the manners and 

 customs, of some of our especial favourites. 



First and least of these must be the Sun-bird — Cinnyris osea 

 (Plate II.) of Prince Bonaparte, in the ' Comptes Rendus,^ but 

 more correctly, I believe, Nectarinia osea (Bp.).* The literary 

 materials for the authentic history of this beautiful gem are 

 scanty indeed. It seems to have escaped the notice of Antinori, 

 and, strangely enough, of Hemprich and Ehrenberg also. The 

 Due de Vallombrosa brought the only specimen known in Euro- 

 pean collections before this year, and the type of Bonaparte's 

 description. 



But so distinguished a bird, if he has had no history, has at least 

 some legendary traditions attached to his name. Most residents 

 in Palestine will tell you of the "Jericho Humming-bird" — a true 

 Humming-bird, and will not allow you to doubt the fact of its 

 existence, as it has been seen by them, and was shot by the son 

 of their friend or neighbour. They are not, however, so far 



* I have preferred to retain the generic term of IlUger, Nectarinia, on 

 the ground of undoubted priority, and being unable to recognize the prin- 

 ciple on which Bonaparte has separated Cinnyris from Nectarinia, unless 

 I were prepared to follow Cabanis and increase indefinitely the number 

 of genera in this group. The characters on which the Prince relies appear 

 too vague, while he has retained among Nectarinia such short-tailed 

 species as N. adalberti, Gr. 



