THE ALGERIAN SAHARA. 59 
C. hermonensis (Trist.), has the crown of the head slightly 
rufous. In the “Birds of Europe,” Part XXIL, it is stated 
that “M. Taczanouski observed it in the winter in Algeria ;” 
but in his list, translated in the Zoologist, that naturalist 
says, “Not seen during the whole winter. In the beginning 
of March we caught sight of a small flock for the first time.” 
(Zool., 2581). 
With thankful hearts we rode into Laghouat on Thursday 
morning. It was nearly a month since I had seen an 
European, and I was not sorry to get back to the comforts of 
a bedroom at the hotel. On all hands I heard of the Camel 
“razzia” at Zergoun. I might almost say it had created 
some uneasinesss. I was very glad to take the first 
“courrier,” and return to Algiers as quickly as possible. 
I did not attempt to shoot any more, but at Ain-El-Ibel 
I was given a Red-necked Goatsucker (Caprimulgus rujicol- 
fis) in fine plumage. The next day being Sunday, I slept 
at Guelt-El-Stel, and saw three more of the same species, 
apparently attracted by the young locusts with which the 
ground was perfectly black in places. It is not included by 
either Tristram, Salvin, or Taczanouski. Near Medea I got 
the finest Golden Oriole (Oriolus galbula) | ever saw. The 
coach stopped to bait at a roadside public-house, the land- 
lord of which had shot it on a fruit tree in his garden. Its 
stomach contained a mass of hair, apparently that of hairy 
caterpillars, 
Nothing else worth mentioning occurred until I reached 
Algiers. There I saw two more new birds, the Yellow-legged 
Herring Gull (Larus leucopheus), and the Purple Heron 
(Ardea purpurea), the former in the harbour, the latter in a 
barber’s shop apparently just set up. In crossing to Mar- 
seilles I observed Stormy Petrels (Thalassidroma pelagica) 
at the Balearic Isles, and Cinereous Shearwaters (Pufinus 
cinereus), both of which may be included in the Algerian 
avifauna. Indeed in May, 1856, Dr. Tristram shot eight 
