in the Eastern Atlas. 
187 
reversed; and tlie distinctness of the Barbary Falcon from the 
Peregrine, which has long been and still is a tradition among 
falconers, will probably be as much confirmed by future re¬ 
searches as that opinion. 
My own experience of this bird was entirely confined to the 
Eastern Atlas, where in some districts it is by no means un¬ 
common. I had many opportunities of watching the birds, and 
was present at the siege of three of their eyries, besides discover¬ 
ing others which were inaccessible. The first of these nests was 
in a hole in the eastern portion of the rock of Djebel Dekma. 
To this nest, for a long time Mohamed obstinately refused to 
ascend; it was his first experience in rope-climbing. Two dol¬ 
lars, however, produced the desired effect; and after five hours 
hard work, during which we had to employ every available foot 
of cord, even to our tent-lines, we were rewarded with three 
eggs. While the siege was going on, I shot one of the old 
birds. A few feet from the nest of the Lammergeyer in Khifan 
M’sakta was another nest. From this we took on the 9th of 
April four eggs just ready to hatch. The parent birds I 
watched for some time as they flew anxiously round, but did 
not shoot one. On the 20th of April an Arab reported that he 
had found a nest of “ Boumee ” in Kef Boudjato, a rock situ¬ 
ated no great distance from Kef Laks. I immediately staited 
to the spot, taking with me Mohamed, my gun, and ropes. A 
successful siege w r as the result; and I returned to the tents with 
three eggs and one of the parent birds. The measurement of 
an egg from each of these three nests I subjoin. The Baibary 
Falcon brought to England by us (mentioned above as now in 
Mr. Gurney’s possession) was procured from a rock near the 
Marabout of Sidi Khalifa Cherif, on the northern boundary of 
the extensive plain that holds the salt lake of Gueiah El Tharf. 
Bil Ghazoum, our interpreter, and Mohamed, our climber, took 
it and another from the same nest about the 8th of May 7 . They 
had then almost assumed their feathers. Between these two 
birds there subsisted a marked difference in size , and the 
smaller of the two had, in addition to the rufous maiking at t e 
back of the neck, a light-coloured reddish head. We kept 
them about two months, during which time they came to t en 
