Expedition to the Eastern Canary Islands. 47 



cultivated. The Barranco de la Pena (Plate III. fig. 1) is 

 closely" overgrown with Tamarisk scrub, and in the distance 

 the clump of palms can be seen under which our camp was 

 pitched. I had intended only to remain for one night, but 

 1 soon found that birds of all descriptions were so plentiful 

 in this valley that four days would be well spent here. It 

 was in this barranco that we first met with the Fuerte- 

 venturan Blue Titmouse [Parus c. degener\ which we found 

 to be quite plentiful, frequenting especially the fig trees 

 and tamarisks. 



According to Polatzek, nesting commences at the end of 

 February, and we saw a number of birds of the year in 

 company with the old ones. Von Thanner has also seen 

 adults feeding young on the 3rd of March. 



The distribution of this Blue Tit is peculiar. One may- 

 travel for many miles without meeting with any at all, when 

 on entering a certain district tliey will suddenly become 

 quite plentiful. After leaving La Pena I never saw them 

 again in Fuerteventura : they have, however, been recorded 

 from several other parts of the is>land by other naturalists, 

 and of course there are many places which I did not have 

 time to visit. Another species here met with for the first 

 time was the Sardinian Warbler {Sylvia melanocephala leuco- 

 gastra). These birds were most plentiful amongst the 

 tamarisk bushes, in which they were extraordinarily difficult 

 to locate. Their note always betrayed them, however, and 

 if you sat still in the middle of the scrub several would soon 

 show themselves. I noticed that the hens seemed to be 

 much more in evidence than the cocks; they had apparently 

 only just finished nesting, as I found several recently vacated 

 nests. These were usually placed in the fork of a tamarisk 

 about four feet from the ground, and a variety of materials 

 was used in their construction : thin sticks, dried grass, 

 camel's hair, and bloom of the tamarisk, with often a lining 

 of goat's hair. 



One of the most plentiful species in this valley was Meade- 

 Waldo's Chat (Saxicola d. dacotice). These birds frequented 

 the tamarisks which lined the dry bed of the barranco. 



