395 
1921 .] of Tunisia and Algeria. 
country for caravan-travel and nomad-life the Tunisian 
Regency is perhaps unrivalled.” No naturalist, however 
narrow his interest may be, can fail to be delighted with his 
first impression of Kairouan, up till the entry of the French 
in 1881, one of the four sacred Mohammedan cities, through 
the gates of which none but the followers of the Prophet 
durst enter. Kairouan is a town of purely Arabic type, 
surrounded by a remarkably high wall. With its beautiful 
domed Mosques and towering minarets, and its entirely 
unspoilt appearance, this wonderful white city has an 
atmosphere which it is quite impossible to describe, but 
which grips one from the moment its ancient gates are 
entered. Wandering through the streets we often encoun¬ 
tered Arabs hawking large bunches of Starlings for sale, 
evidently netted close to the town and eaten largely by the 
natives. The loathsome practice of bird-liming is also 
carried on here, and we saw a number of miserable Corn- 
Buntings being tortured by their thoughtless youthful 
captivators in the streets of the town and we hastily put them 
out of their misery. Many of the Arabs keep cage-birds, 
the African Goldfinch being evidently the favourite, though 
Blackbirds were also seen and occasionally Turtle-Doves. 
On our way to the “ Mosque of the Barber ” we were 
interested to see a Southern Little Owl (Athene noctua glaux) 
perched on a tomb in the Arab Cemetery, quietly sleeping- 
in the blazing sun. Within a short distance of the Owl the 
white hunched-up figure of an Arab rocked in prayer, but 
the bird seemed undisturbed by the proximity of the droning 
voice. Our Mohammedan guide told us that the “Booma” 
-—as they call the Little Owl—was a very wicked bird at 
whose door many vile charges are laid. The bird, he 
explained, would attack young babies the moment the 
mother’s back was turned, and by swiftly pecking the child's 
forehead would cause its death unless prevented in time ! 
This astounding story was evidently implicitly believed in 
by the narrator, and as he had witnessed such a deed u with 
his own eyes ” it would have been but waste of time to 
question its authenticity! 
