38 RAMBLES OF A NATURALIST. 
April 3rd. 1 strolled to-day in an easterly direction to a 
place where I had shot one of a pair of Galerida macro- 
rhynca (Trist.), G. randoni (Loche. Revue et Mag., de 
Zool., April, 1860, p. 148, plate XI, fig. 2), and found the 
other apparently mated again. They are the only ones I 
have seen here, though Canon Tristram found them “abun- 
dant near Laghouat.” They were quite tame, and evidently 
meant to nest if they had not eggs already. While I was 
watching them, a number of shadows attracted my attention, 
and looking up I saw a flight of locusts overhead. I have 
been several times made aware of locusts by first seeing 
their shadows on the ground. I must not omit to state that 
T shot a Blue-throated Warbler (Cyanecula leucocyanea ?), 
with the chest spot partly white and partly red. Un- 
fortunately it was too much shattered for preserving. Loche 
mentions having shot near Brouage specimens with the 
chest spot “roussatre” (Exploration, Sc. V., p. 224). 
Every evening, almost before the sun went down, I used 
to hear the hooting of the Little Owls (A thene glaux, Sav.), 
and again at daybreak I could hear them. The ear in this 
species is nearly round, and not large for an Owl. One day 
I observed a Black Wheatear (Saxricola lencura) on some 
rocks in the town. As the eye wanders over the dreary 
landscape, it is a relief to see one of these handsome fellows 
spreading his tail on a grey rock, and displaying himself to 
advantage as the pairing season approaches, I have found 
on this Saxicole a formidable white-bodied tick with eight 
legs. The Frenchmen at Laghouat call them “Merle de 
Roche,” a name applied by Buffon to the Rock Thrush. 
On another occasion I saw a Goldfinch zz the town. This 
common species yields in beauty to none. To my mind, if 
you see them in the sunshine, they are brighter than the 
brightest butterflies; but African specimens of many birds 
surpass English in richness of colouring. Loche adds that 
as a rule they are smaller, but this is certainly not the case 
