THE ALGERIAN SAHARA. 39 
with the Tawny Owl (Sérix aluco, Lin.), of which there are 
two very large specimens in the Algiers Museum, and which 
the late Mr. Verreaux proposed to describe as a distinct 
species, and name after my father.* 
On Sunday, happening to be out for a stroll, I observed. 
twelve Vultures at a distance, circling round a mountain ; 
and having nothing to do, I determined to cultivate their 
nearer acquaintance. When however I got to the foot I 
counted them again and there were were only eleven, but 
the twelfth, while I was wondering what had become of him, 
leisurely turned out from behind a boulder, not fifty paces 
from me, and displaying the huge body and pinions of a 
stately Griffon (Gyps fulvus) slowly sailed away to where 
his mates were still performing their aerial evolutions. That 
he had been gorging I have no doubt, which would account 
for his tameness, for on no other occasion did I ever get, so 
near one, though I often saw them at a distance. 
I will only mention the Swallow for the sake of saying 
that it is a mistake to suppose that this bird, or any of the 
European Hirundinide (except Cotyle rupestris, the most 
stay-at-home of all the family,) pass the winter in Algeria. 
It was not until the end of February that I observed 
Swallows, and I am convinced that few, if any, remain 
throughout the year. On the 26th and 27th of March we 
experienced a very cold wind at Laghouat, and so be- 
numbed were they that hundreds might have been killed 
with stones. The poor birds were to be seen sitting about 
in all directions. I shall not forget one affecting incident 
of which I was a witness. I found a Swallow lying dead in 
the town with its mate beside it, and although the poor 
creature had been some time dead, she would not leave it. 
Constant to her post beside its head, she sang (if their notes 
* Specimens of this Algerian race are preserved in the Norwich 
Museum. 
