BIRD LIFE IN EASTERN ALGERIA. 129 



Next to the Goldfinch, the Corn Bunting (Emberiza miliaria) 

 was the most numerous bird in the district. 



Swifts (Cypselus apus) were often to be seen high in the air, 

 or over the river, and once I watched some Alpine Swifts (C. 

 melba) flying quite low down. Few things in bird-life are 

 grander than the marvellous, dashing, rushing flight of this 

 great Swift, and one is lost in wonder at the sudden way in which 

 it can check its flight, turn to one side, or up or down, and 

 change its direction ; one moment it seems to be dashing in the 

 face of the observer, who hears the sharp sound of cut air, and 

 the next, before he can turn, the Swift is gliding smoothly over 

 the river far awaj'. 



I sometimes saw a Roller (Cor arias garrula) perched on the 

 telegraph wire by the railway, or twisting about like a Lapwing, 

 or executing some other strange tumble in the air, to the tune of 

 harsh croaking cries ; I think they bred in some of the high 

 earth-banks in the neighbourhood. 



More numerous were the lovely Bee-eaters (Merops apiaster), 

 the "Chasseurs d'Afrique" of the French, the flash of whose 

 plumage in the sun is something to be seen. They breed in the 

 gorges. I can always recall one scene in which the Bee-eater 

 figures. I was sitting on a rock in a very pretty spot at a slight 

 bend in the river, with tamarisks, pink oleanders, &c, growing 

 among the boulders ; the banks above were well shrubbed. Just 

 above where I sat a broad glassy pool was dotted with two or 

 three projecting rocks ; beyond this were green and shrubbed 

 slopes, and then a double-headed mountain. Below, the river 

 broke in two, and fell through a rocky and boulder-strewn bed, 

 making noisy rapids. A Kingfisher (rare) sped by, and two Bee- 

 eaters were hawking for insects over the pool and dipping in the 

 water, returning after each graceful flight to perch on some 

 bushes on the bank. The Bee-eater's call-note is " whrip " or 

 "whrrrep" (two or three syllables run together). The alarm- 

 note is a louder, clearer "hrrip." The bird has a sailing flight 

 with outstretched wings. It sits in a somewhat upright posi- 

 tion, head, body, and tail all in line. It often perches thus, 

 to dash out at intervals for an insect, and return to the same 

 perch. 



The Hoopoe's (ZJ pupa e pops) "hoop hoop hoop," "hoop hoop," 

 sounded sometimes from high up the slopes ; when this bird 



