THE ALGERIAN SAHARA, 33 
Ain-oussera, and the shadows lengthen, one feels inclined to 
speculate on the not distant period when bands of lawless 
Bedouins roamed over the desert now so completely brought 
under French jurisdiction. Should the Nomads again 
break out, a few days will suffice to bring a column from 
Algiers sufficient to subdue any insurrection. Meanwhile 
the Barbary states remain at peace, from the palm-shaded 
oases of Tripoli to the bazaars and gardens of Moorish 
Tangiers, and not even the reverses in the terrible Franco- 
German war emboldened the Bedouin to attempt another 
rising, so deep is their respect for the “chassepét,” and for 
French military organisation. 
February 12th. Breakfasted sumptuously off a Houbara 
Bustard (Houbara undulata, Bp.), an agreeable change after 
the customary meal of goat. This magnificent bird is still 
common. I saw three at Ain-oussera, and afterwards at 
Laghouat no less than seven were brought to me. In one 
old cock the feathers which composed the ruff were seven 
inches long. 
The master of the caravanserat killed a pair of Grey- 
headed Wagtails. I afterwards obtained some brilliant 
specimens at Laghouat. One had a white throat, dark 
ear-coverts, and no white line from the eye to the beak. 
But this variety, generally called Budytes cinercicapilla 
(Savi), merges on one side into B. fava (L.), and on the 
other to B. melanocephala (Licht), and has no constant 
characters to establish its specific difference. Loche ob- 
tained the three, and treats them as separate (Catalogue, 
p. 80); but subsequent research has proved that &. cinereica- 
olla at any rate is not a good species. 
It was not until the 13th of March that I noticed a Hoopoe 
(Upupa epops). Jt happened to be Sunday, and I was re- 
clining on a stack, when at a distance I observed what at 
first 1 took to be some great Creeper coming right at me. 
I marked where he settled, watched his habits a considerable 
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