402 
Letters, Extracts, and Notes. 
Finch. I forget if you have been in the south of Gran 
Canaria, but if so, you will remember that the pine-forests 
cover a large extent of ground, and on the ride from Juncal 
to the Cueva delas Ninas the mule-path winds through pines 
almost all the way. Juncal, which is a very small village, 
consisting of a few straggling houses, is situated in a deep 
barranca 3600 ft. above the sea. 
Higher up again, at 4000 ft., the Pinar Pajonal commences, 
and here it is that I found the Finches to be most plentiful, 
but even in these pines they are very locally distributed. 
As we rode through these forests on the 5th of February we 
saw about six or eight pairs of it—a week later none were 
to be seen there at all ; so I imagine they move about in 
small parties through the forests, in a similar manner to the 
Tits. This is an extremely silent bird, and the note did not 
appear to be nearly so loud as that of our English Chaffinch, 
though, from the original account of the species by Capt. 
Polatzek, it would appear to be a great deal more pronounced. 
It is often to be seen on the ground beneath the pines, dili¬ 
gently searching amongst the pine-needles, and when suddenly 
disturbed flies silently into a tree close at hand, shewing very 
little fear. Most of the birds seen near Juncal were in pairs, 
but I met with several single cock birds in the forests near 
the Cueva de las Ninas : the latter were absolutely silent. 
The ovaries of two females dissected contained very minute 
eggs and the testes of the males were small. I imagine that 
these birds are rather late breeders, and the local shepherds 
and Guardias, who were intimate with the bird, informed 
me that they had found the nests in April. I obtained 
three pairs of these Chaffinches for the British Museum, 
and I hope now they will be allowed to increase in peace : 
you may be sure I shall do all I can out here to keep their 
hiding-place a secret from w r andering collectors ! 
I am. Sirs, 
Yours &c., 
Gran Canaria, David A. Bannerman. 
Feb. 6th, 1911. _ 
Birds of the Central Sahara .—In the interesting narrative 
of his journey from Tripoli to Bornu across the Central 
Sahara, Mr. Vischer writes at the oasis of Bilma (now 
