410 
Mr. F. C. Selous on 
hatched out, a little yellow brown-brindled downy thing, with 
already longisli legs, neck, and bill. All the eggs I got were 
considerably incubated, though I managed to blow them 
without much difficulty with a good large hole. The fact that 
I found two Cranes 5 nests each containing only one egg, which 
must have been sat on for some time, seems to show that 
these birds do not always lay two eggs The nests were low, 
flat structures, of beaten-down grass, from 18 inches to two 
feet in diameter, resting on the grass-covered mud; but, as 
they were about three inches in thickness, they were quite dry. 
These Cranes 5 nests were difficult to And, as the birds left them 
and walked slowly away when we were still a long distance 
from them. On one occasion I saw a Crane fly up from the 
marsh about 500 yards ahead, and marking the spot as well 
as I could, I kept my eyes fixed on it, and, wading straight 
to it, found the nest with two eggs. This, however, was the 
only bird which flew from its eggs. I also marked a Marsh- 
Harrier (Circus (Bruginosus) rise from the swamp, and made 
sure it had a nest, but found nothing. There were likewise a 
number of Peewits (Vanellus cristatus ) flying about the 
drier portions of the marsh, and we saw a number of Ruddy 
Sheld-ducks (Casarca rutila) either sitting just on the edge 
of the salt-lake or flying over the marsh. These birds nest 
in holes and crevices among the rocks on the lower slopes of 
the Maimun Dagh, and are early breeders, as the men with 
me told me that they had all of them already taken their 
broods from the mountain to the salt-lake. 
After having finished with the Cranes we went up into the 
Maimun Dagh and took an Egyptian Yulture 5 s nest, with two 
very handsomely-marked eggs. We also found two nests of 
the Syrian Rock-Nuthatch (Sitta syriaca ), each containing 
seven eggs—one clutch being unfortunately much incubated. 
These nests were made of mud stuck on to an overhanging 
rock. They looked like very large House-Martins 5 nests, pro¬ 
longed into a narrow passage, at the end of which was the small 
round hole for entrance or egress. In one case the entrance- 
passage and hole (only about an inch in diameter) were built 
against the overhanging rock, but in the other the entrance- 
