Ornithology of Asia Minor. 95 
they presently came close enough to show their very dis- 
tinctive markings, and further down the stream a flock was 
met with feeding on a field of sprouting corn. There must 
have been about a hundred, moving slowly and regularly in 
a compact body. One of our party made a careful stalk to 
within a hundred and fifty yards; but the ball from the 
smooth-bore struck the ground just in advance of them, and 
so a fine chance was lost; nor did we encounter them again. 
After leaving Angora it is prairie-land again, and there 
are Larks in legion (Alauda calandra, A. bimaculata, A. 
cristata, A. arvensis, Calandrella minor) ; but the smaller of 
the Calandre is the most numerous. This is evidently the 
great breeding-ground of A. bimaculata ; but though numbers 
were seen carrying building-materials, dissection showed that 
their eggs would not be laid for some time. 
At the first halting-place, Baluk kujundje, there is a little 
rocky gorge, where Egyptian Vultures were repairing their 
nests, and an Hagle-Owl was left in peace to hatch her eggs. 
A solitary Purple Heron and about a dozen Night-Herons 
frequented the few willows that grew beside the stream, where 
we also found Sawicola melanoleuca and Sylvia luscinia. Next 
day the hot south wind, which usually gets up about midday 
and falls towards sunset, blew very strong as we travelled 
over a grassy country broken up by hills more or less isolated, 
but of less rounded character than those lately passed, and 
here and there limestone rocks veined with quartz; and on 
the wayside and the northern slopes a good deal of white 
efflorescence indicated the vicinity of the salt desert. This 
saline exudation was particularly strong on certain plains, 
which appear to have been once the beds of a chain of lakes, 
but are now mere grassy levels traversed by narrow reedy 
streams. 
Great and Little Bustards, Sand-Grouse, and a solitary 
Egret (Ardea garzetta) were here met with; and every herd 
of goats and sheep had a following of Wagtails (Motacilla 
melanocephala). Like so many big buttercups they looked, 
as the green of their upper plumage exactly matched the 
surrounding herbage, leaving only their yellow breasts visible. 
