44 Mr. D. A. Bannerman on an Ornithological 



Quails^ eggs were brought in — one of nine, the other of 

 five eggs. 



In a pomegranate tree behind the camp I found the nest 

 of Lanius excubitor koenigi (from which the young had flown) , 

 composed of thickish sticks and bits of the prickly shrub 

 Launcea spinosa and lined with rags, cotton, and camel's hair^ 

 a very untidy structure. An Egyptian Vulture, actually 

 the first we had noted, came round the camp in the evening, 

 after the birds^ bodies which we threw away. On a plain 

 covered with loose stones a pair of Thick-knees were evidently 

 breeding. The female was remarkably tame and allowed us 

 to approach quite close before flying a short distance away, 

 where it stood and gazed at us. 



We left Caldereta the following afternoon, intending if 

 possible to reach Toston on the north-west coast before 

 dark. The way led along the side of a range of hills with 

 a wide deep valley on our right in which a fair crop of 

 wheat had been cultivated. Before reaching Oliva we again 

 met with Saxicola d. dacotice, all young birds of the year. 

 Short-toed Larks were here extremely plentiful, but Ber- 

 thelot^s Pipits on the other hand were quite scarce. 

 Passing over some sandy ground two small flocks of 

 Coursers were seen^ birds which I did not find by any 

 means common along the route I followed until we reached 

 the big plains in the centre of the island. We rode into 

 Oliva very soon afterwards — a large village built on an 

 utterly bare plain surrounded by hills, also entirely barren 

 except where the ground had been terraced to enable the 

 earth to be cultivated. To the north of the village a good 

 deal of cactus has been planted, amongst which Hoopoes, 

 Shrikes, and Linnets were noted. My attention was drawn 

 to one Linnet having a brilliantly crimson breast, the others 

 all being much paler than those subsequently met with in 

 Lanzarote. The ride from Oliva to the coast was not par- 

 ticularly interesting, everywhere terribly barren but more 

 hilly than I had expected to find it. Mile after mile the 

 country was very much the same, and apart from Short-toed 

 Larks and Hoopoes, birds were conspicuous by their absence. 



