18 JDESEET TBUMPETEB BULLFINCH. 



roll about in tlie dust like Sparrows. The breeding-time begins in 

 March, and like those of most true desert birds, the nest is well 

 concealed, and w4th such foresight, that it can hardly ever be found. 



^'I have never succeeded in discovering one, though I have many 

 times sought in vain, 'as did Brehm in Egypt, who writes ^In the 

 month of March P. gitJiagvnea is in breeding-plumage, but I have 

 never succeeded in discovering any more about it. The masses of rock 

 on both sides of the Nile form a very favourable nesting-place, but 

 they extend so much that the naturalist cannot pursue his object with 

 any good result.' 



"I know, however, from the goatherds of Fuertaventura, that the 

 Moros, as they are called there, build in crevices under large over- 

 hanging stones ujion the ground. The nest has a tolerably strong 

 texture, and is woven with the coarse straw of the desert grass, and 

 lined v/ithin with great feathers, mostly of the ostrich and bustard, as 

 well as the wool of the camel and hair of the goat. The number of 

 eggs is from three to five. They certainly breed twice, if not more 

 frequently. The second moult takes place in July. Individuals quite 

 tired have been seen by fishermen flying over the arm of the sea and 

 the islands of the coast. These journeys shew why it appears yearly 

 in Malta as a bird of passage, as this island makes the direct line 

 from the Western Sahara and Canary Islands to the deserts of the 

 Syrte, bordering on the Mediterranean. 



''The Desert Trumpeter does not appear to have many enemies in 

 its native home, as with the exception of the wild cat and a few 

 stoats, it has no four-footed foes. The Horned Owl can scarcely find 

 it under the flat stones, and in the clifls which protect it. It has only 

 to beware of the Kite, f Milvus regalis./^ 



Dr. BoUe was a long time before he could keep them alive in con- 

 finement, but he at length succeeded, and he gives a most interesting 

 account of their habits. He says they are peaceful and gentle, very 

 tame and sociable with each other, or with other birds. The male 

 bird sings in the late autumn and winter. They love company, and 

 constantly call to one another. He kept his birds in a room with 

 plenty of light, and when the lamp was brought in they began their 

 song. The tone is sometimes clear and beautiful, but with a short 

 trumpet, or a prolonged drony or quaking sound, which appears to be 

 the key-note of their song, and to which is often added various 

 modulated tones, sometimes resembling the purring of a cat. The 

 'ka, ka, ka,' which they constantly repeat, answers, as a rule, one 

 much deeper, softer, and shorter. Rarely they may be heard uttering 

 a low chattering, like the little parrot; they will also cackle like the 



