130 THE ZOOLOGIST 



alights after a flight, and is a little alarmed, it erects its crest 

 and bows ; in flight it is a most conspicuously pied bird. It is 

 the *' Tebib " of th3 Arabs, and has (or its skin has) supposed 

 virtues of a medicinal or magical kind ; it is much the same with 

 these people. 



Kock Doves (Columba llvia) might be seen flying overhead 

 sometimes, but I did not notice any breeding haunt in that bit of 

 Algeria. The Turtle Dove (Turtur communis) was quite com- 

 mon, and occasionally I used to come across a Barbary Partridge 

 {Caccabis petrosa). The ordinary call-note of this bird has a 

 considerable resemblance to that of our Red-legged Partridge, as 

 might be expected, and may be expressed as " chuck chuck 

 chukor." The alarm-note when the bird is flushed is "chuckow," 

 the emphasis being laid on the last syllable, which is drawn out; 

 an old cock, when alarmed, makes a great noise. The former 

 note more properly is that of winter. In the breeding season, as 

 is the case with Caccabis rufa also, it is modified, and becomes 

 "tucka tucka shack shack." But Caccabis petrosa has, in addi- 

 tion, at this season, an extraordinary long-drawn note, which, 

 after listening to it for some time, I put down in my note-book 

 as "h'kwaia"; this strange sound sometimes precedes the ordi- 

 nary call. The Barbary Partridge is truly a most beautiful bird, 

 its pretty colours being set off by a coral-red beak and orange 

 eyelids. 



On May 25th I went (in search of a little bracing air) for a 

 couple of days to Souk Ahras, about two hours by rail (or 

 GO kilometres) from the frontier, and at the head of the valley. 

 The valley, along which the railway winds with some wonderfully 

 sharp curves, is very lovely. At that date the oleanders were in 

 their glory, and many of the olives, &c, were festooned with 

 trailing white roses ; conspicuous among many showy flowers 

 was a tall pink valerian. Some of the mountains beneath which 

 we passed were of considerable height, with oak-scrub at the top 

 — a sure sign here of high elevation. I saw a Roller and a buff- 

 backed Wheatear, either Saxicola stapazina or S. aurita. We rose 

 throughout the journey, and after Oued Mougras the valley had 

 become much shallower, and rather wider in proportion ; here 

 were some corn-patches, the barley nearly ripe ; but the ground 

 was always bushy close to the river. At Sidi Bader the little 

 station-house was thickly clustered with the nests of the House 



