ZOOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN PERSIAN GULF AND IRAQ. 1109 
arrived at the conclusion that the month of March was a generally agreed date 
to tind egga. This date proved in the following year to be correct. At the time, 
a visit to the islands in 1922 was not contemplated and the failure to obtain any 
data regarding these two birds was much regretted. 
The voyages to the islands had been made in very hot damp weather but be- 
yond a touch of the sun which laid him up from Jime 16th to the 26th, and one 
or two storms which are vmpleasant in these small saihng boats. La Personne left 
Fao on July 3rd for Qurnah none the worse for his experiences. The objective 
now was the vast marshes which omithologically are httle known at the breeding 
season. We had that year received a large basket of mixed eggs from one of 
the Shaikhs, and La Personne’s instructions were as before to visit the breeding 
colonies and bring back only clutches of which he had shot the parent bird. 
Headquarters in this area were rrrade at Qurnah on July 7th and then voyages of 
2 or 3 days’ duration were made into the heart of the rrrarshes with the marsh 
Aiubs in their canoes — paddhng or pohng mile after mile along lanes in a forest 
of reeds 18 feet high. The official recorded temperature at this time ran up 
to 128° in the shade and made the work no sinecure especially as the atmosphere 
is heavily laden with moistm'e and mosquitoes. The season was drawing to 
a close. In aU the colonies located most of the eggs had hatched and the few that 
remained were in an advanced stage of incirbation. 
Chrtehes with parent birds were however secured of The Night lleron 
{Nycticorax nycticorax rtycticm'ax), Squacco Heron ( Ardeola ralloides), White 
Ibis ( Threskiornis cethiopicus ), African Darter ( Anhinga rufus ), Pigmy 
Cormorant { Phalacrocorax pygmaeus), all five being the first authentic breeding 
records for Iraq. La Persoime had the satisfaction of remaining fit 
during these exiieditions while the marsh Arabs were in some cases laid out 
by heat stroke ! On receiving instmctions to proceed to Baghdad he 
left Qurnah on August 7th. For the rest of the year he remained in Baghdad. 
After wTitmg up notes and arranging liis specimens be was employed in collect- 
ing in the neighbourhood, making series of the birds that have hitherto been 
scarcely represented in collections. 
From February 1st to the 11th, 1922, he was sent to Daur between Samarrah 
and Teki'it on the Tigris to work the conglomerate cliffs 30 feet to 60 feet high 
where in February and March Captain Aldworth had previously foimd nests 
and eggs of the white-tailed Sea Eagle, Bonelli's Eagle and the Eagle Owl. Several 
other chff- breeding birds were considered hkely to be found there. La 
Personne however failed to locate any and returned without any specimens. 
Sir Percy Cox, now determined to make one more attempt to clear up the 
status of the Pehcan at Fao, fix the actual date and locahty of the breeding 
operations and determine the species of the breeding birds. La Personne arrived 
at Fao on Fe binary 18th and found quarters as before with Mr. Hatton of the 
Telegraph Department. He then searched Warba and Bubiyan islands in the 
KJior Abdullah and Dara and Boonah in the Khor Musa and all likely places in 
their vicinity. He saw pelicans mo\dng about but found no sign of a breeding 
colonj^ and formed the opinion that he was too early and wired to Baghdad 
accordingly. We rephed that he should w'ait and try again in a month’s time. 
About the middle of Apiil on the next rtsit to Bubiyan he discovered the 
breeding ground of Pehcan wdth young in dorvn and near by a colony of Flamingo 
with eggs. The pehcans kept well out of range and after an unsuccessful attempt 
to shoot the parents he took some of the yoimg pelicans and eggs of the Flamingo 
and sailed for Fao. As ill-luck would have it a heavy storm broke over them on 
the way and the joUy-boat in which the young pelicans were travelling was 
swamped during the night and sank with the specimens. As however spirit 
specimens of young in down and adults of the Crab Plover were required for inves- 
tigation into the generic affinities of this pecuhar wader. Sir Percy Cox, decided to 
take this opportunity of procuring them and La Persomie was instructed to avail 
