A DILETTANTE IN THE CAUCASUS. 225 



(zimorodok) nests in the banks of a little irrigating canal a few 

 yards from the house. But the speciality de la maison is the 

 ttirach, or Francolin (Francoliniis orientalis caucasicus, But.), a 

 race peculiar to these plains. His chuckling whistle resounded 

 all day in the fields round the house. I occasionally flushed one 

 on the steppe. It rises like a Partridge, but, being big and 

 rather heavy on the wing, is of more importance to the cook than 

 to the sportsman. The flesh is white and tender, recalling that 

 of the Guinea-Fowl, but not so dry. . 



Over the steppes, birds of prey are common. Besides the 

 Kestrels, which are very numerous, Aquila melancetus, L. 

 (= imperialis, Bogd.) is quite common. The Black Kite 

 (korshun) (Milvus ater, Bogd.) flew over us on one occasion. I 

 saw one Harrier (lun), which I think was Circus cyaneus, h. t 

 which occurs throughout the Caucasus up to an altitude of 

 9000 ft. But on the desert, where there is no irrigation, the 

 few spring torrents rapidly dry up, and from, the early summer 

 the ground is a real desert. In the distance it has a bluish-grey 

 colour, due to the quantities of isolated stalks of the glaucous 

 grass of the steppe, Artemisia maritima. At the beginning. of 

 July this plant is already burnt dry. The tops are often crowded 

 with what looks at first like a mass of white flowers, but is 

 really a quantity of a small Snail (Hedix derbende) bleached by 

 the sun. There is little other vegetation. Thanks to its long 

 roots, the delicate Alhagi camelorum can exist at some distance 

 from the canals, and retains its freshness even into the autumn. 

 Prosopis stephaniana has fluffy, pinkish flowers in July ; in 

 September its pods burst and expose a crimson interior, lending 

 a pleasing touch of colour to the scene. The long, sprawling 

 stalks of Capparis spinosa are dotted over the steppe and keep 

 their green colour into the autumn. In places there are patches 

 of the alkaline Salsola soda and S. kalia, whose juicy shoots 

 offer food and refreshment to a number of interesting Orthoptera. 



The desert is alive with insects in July. The steppe 

 Orthoptera, a noisy Cicada, an occasional Palpares and 

 Ascalaphus, and a number of enterprising Odonata are enough 

 to keep the collector busy for a long time ; but in Ornithology 

 there is little to do. As V. Bianki remarked, after we had 

 walked for some hours, it is almost lifeless. Galerida cristata 



