270 
Mr. C. G. Danford on the 
Turtledoves and Cetti’s Warblers were observed; and our 
house was the abode of hundreds of Rock-Sparrows ( Passer 
petronius) . On the bare hills near by a good many Horned 
Larks (Otocorys penicillata) T were met with. They were evi¬ 
dently breeding here; but having a long stretch to make that 
day, and expecting to find them further on, we did not stop 
to look for nests. As often happens in such cases, we never 
saw them again. 
From Bereketlii to Develii-kara Hissar (the Black Castle 
of the Place of Camels) is two good days’ march. The way 
is at first over low hills, chiefly barren, but having a few trees 
and hedges near the villages. Little marmot-like animals 
(Spermophilus xanthoprymnus) swarmed everywhere, and 
nearly drove our retriever Polo to distraction; he evidently 
taking them for a small species of rabbit. Magpies built 
wherever they could find a place; and in a small marsh were 
plenty of Black-headed Wagtails, Red-throated Pipits, some 
Lapwings, and a few Ruddy Sheldrakes, which waddled about 
in a most unconcerned fashion. After passing the village of 
Enehiil the country becomes more grassy, and is traversed by 
long lines of dark igneous rocks, in which breed numbers ol 
Raptorial birds. 
We halted at the curious little village of Gordilas, which 
is built half in and half out of the rocks, and plastered every¬ 
where with ec kerpez ” (round dung-cakes) for winter fuel. 
Before leaving in the morning we visited a nest of Sea-Eagles, 
which was not yet laid in, one of Buteo ferox, which con¬ 
tained four deeply incubated eggs, and a Golden Eagle’s, in 
which was a very young nestling and a yelkless egg. The 
female was knocked over with a broken wing, and made with 
her claws deep impressions on an incautious member of our 
party. Small birds, particularly of the Lark and Swallow 
tribes, swarm in this locality; and the Crimson-winged Bull¬ 
finch [Erythrospiza sanguined) was here first observed. Pass¬ 
ing through a small rocky valley frequented by Arabian 
Chats ( Saxicola erythreed) , one suddenly comes in sight of the 
Erjdias dagh, the highest mountain of Asia Minor. Its sharp 
snow-covered cones, and the broad expanse of water and 
