220 AVES. 



of the saline and filthy mud, and hopped amongst the calcined tamarisk 

 bushes on the outermost limits of vegetation below our camp. This 

 Passer has not been found beyond the Ghor. 



Fringilla ccslebs, Linn. Chaffinch. Gaza, and in the Ghor at Jericho ; 

 also between Jerusalem and Bib el Wad. A few scattered birds. Mr. 

 Wyatt obtained chaffinches in Sinai. 



^Carpodacus sinaiticus, Licht. Sinaitic rose-finch. A single specimen 

 of this beautiful little bird was shot by Dr. Hull from a flock of marsh- 

 sparrows in the Widy 'Arabah. The rose-finch is confined to Sinai and 

 South Palestine. 



Erythospiza githaginea, Licht. I obtained this bird in Widy Nasb. 

 Subsequently in Judaea, south of Blr es Sebi, I heard a curious, low, 

 ventriloquizing note, rising and falling, and with a faint resemblance to 

 our yellowhammer's cry, which I have reason to believe belonged to this 

 species. I could not get a shot at it. My Bedawin called it ' thyur.' A 

 desert species, ranging from the Canaries to Scinde. 



\Emberiza miliaria, Linn. Common bunting. Frequent amongst the 

 dhoura fields in the Gh6r es Safieh, and in the Judaean wilderness, follow- 

 ing the sowers. 



^E. striolata, Licht. In the Wady 'Arabah, and at Wddy Ghurundel 

 in Sinai. A desert species, found from Morocco to North-west India. 



Sturnus vulgaris, Linn. Starling. Between Jerusalem and Jericho 

 in vast flocks. 



S. unicolor, Temn. Sardinian starling. The ' black starling ' came 

 to roost in some numbers in the marsh at Tell Abu Hareireh the night 

 we were encamped there. Subsequently I saw a few near Ramleh, at the 

 western base of the Jerusalem plateau. 



^Amydrus Tristramii, Sclater. Tristram's grakle. Small flocks of this 

 species were met with at Jebel Abu Kosheibeh, and in the widy below it 

 leading into the 'Arabah, about halfway between the Ghor and 'Akabah. 

 A few were seen at Petra, and a flock kept circling round the summit of 

 Mount Hor all the time I was botanizing there. At first, while expecting 

 to be molested by the Bedawin, Dr. Hull and I believed this bird's clear 

 whistle was a signal amongst the mountaineers. I obtained a specimen 



