here too "the stork knoweth her appointed times," and retires in November. 113. Common Heron (Ardea Cinerea); Arab. "Bou Auk." 114. Purple Heron (Ardea Purpurea).' 115. White Egret (Herodias Alba); Arab. “Aïzouch." 121. Night Heron (Nycticorax Griseus). All these birds of the Heron tribe are to be met with occasionally in the salt marshes and ditches of the various oases, especially at Waregla and in the vast Wed R'hir. 122. Flamingo (Phoenicopterus Antiquorum); Arab. broose." A large flock were seen in the open chott of Waregla. "Sha 123. Bald Ibis (Geronticus Comatus). Found in the rocky ridges near Bou Guizoun. Unlike the rest of its family, it resorts only to the most arid and desolate mountain ranges, where it consorts with the falcon and the raven. Its food, as I ascertained, consists of lizards and serpents; and it breeds in holes in inaccessible precipices. 124. Glossy Ibis (Falcinellus Igneus); Arab. "Maâzat el Mâ" (Devil crow). Rare. Seen at Tuggurt along with little egrets. 125. Dotterell (Eudromias Morinellus); Arab. "El Mohr.” In vast flocks on plains where vegetation occurs. Only in winter. 126. Kentish Plover (Egialites Cantianus). Universally present in all the chotts and sebkhas. 127. Little Ring Plover (Egialites Minor). In the same localities, but not so common. 128. Cream-coloured Courser (Cursorius Gallicus); Arab. "Song el Ibel," i. e. "Camel-pricker." On desert plains. Less abundant in winter than in summer. 129. Lapwing (Vanellus Cristatus); Arab. "Bibeth." Rare, and only found in winter. 130. Collared Pratincole (Glareola Pratincola). Extremely abundant near marshes or lakes. 131. Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus Melanopterus). Resorts to the ditches of the oases in winter. 132. Avocet (Recurvirostra Avocetta). Tuggurt in January. 133. Snipe (Gallinago Media). In ditches and marshes everywhere in winter. 134. Jack Snipe (Gallinago Gallinula). One shot in the Wed R'hir. 135. Ruff (Machetes Pugnax). 136. Dunlin (Tringa Alpina). winter. Tuggurt. Common by salt lakes in 137. Temmink's Stint (Tringa Temminki). 141. Common Sandpiper (Totanus Hypoleucos). 144. Baillon's Crane (Gallinula Bailloni). 145. Great Purple Gallinule (Porphyrio Hyacinthus). 146. Coot (Fulica Atra); Arab. “Ghorra.” All these waders occur in winter in salt marshes and lakes. The Green Sandpiper is especially numerous. 147. Bean Goose (Anser Segetum). One shot at Temaçin. 148. Ruddy Shieldrake (Casarka Rutila). Hundreds of these birds resort to the small pieces of open water at Bou Guizoun, Tuggurt, &c. At the former place I captured some half-dozen nestlings of various ages, some of them scarcely more than a day old; yet the only place where they could possibly have bred, and where we had procured a nest three days previously, was in a range of cliffs more than twelve miles distant. 149. Common Shieldrake (Tadorna Vulpanser). Scarce. 150. Wild Duck (Anas Boschas); Arab. "Brack." 151. Gadwall (Anas Strepera). 152. Shoveller (Rhynchaspis Clypeata). 153. Teal (Querquedula Crecca). 154. Pintail (Dafila Acuta). 155. Widgeon (Mareca Penelope). 156. Tufted Duck (Fuligula Cristata). 157. Pochard (Fuligula Ferina). 158. White-eyed Duck (Nyroca Leucophthalma). All these ducks are more or less frequent in the lakes and salt marshes. I have picked up a wild duck dead of starvation in the centre of the Souafa Desert. The Tufted and White-eyed are the most common species in the Wed R'hir. 161. Gull-billed Tern (Gelochelidon Anglica). At the Zahrez. 162. Least Tern (Sterna Minuta). 163. Black Tern (Hydrochelidon Nigra). 164. White-winged Black Tern (Hydrochelidon Leucoptera). 165. Whiskered Tern (Hydrochelidon Hybrida). The Terns were only found in the Western Sahara, and chiefly on the great lakes of the Zahrez-never further south. 166. Great-crested Grebe (Podiceps Cristatus). 167. Eared Grebe (Podiceps Auritus). 168. Little Grebe (Podiceps Minor). In the northern Sahara. None of the Grebes were observed in the south, even in the most suitable localities. N.B.-I have only included in this catalogue the birds obtained by myself. It will be noted that most of the rarest and most interesting forms occurred only in the extreme south, where, from the danger of wandering far from camp, and from the rapidity with which we were often compelled to travel, many species may have been overlooked. To naturalize perseveringly in a desert is no easy task, especially when at a distance from water, for the delay of a day may prove death to a whole caravan. The farther we penetrated south and east, Nubian and Abyssinian types more frequently occurred, and the scarcer the European forms became. After the information collected by Heuglin, Rüppell, and others on the ornithology of Eastern Africa, we can scarcely anticipate the discovery of many new species in the still unexplored Touareg country. But the western limits of the Nubian fauna is a problem still unsolved; and for its solution we need a careful observation of the birds on the route from Tripoli to the Soudan, viâ G'hadames. I believe it will be found that at Waregla we bid adieu to European species, except as winter visitants, and enter upon the Ethiopian zone. The Sahara is the debatable land between the two, and its southern portion is adapted for the existence of but few of our European forms. APPENDIX VI. REPTILES OF THE SAHARA. Order, TESTUDINATA. Testudo Mydas, Cuv. (common tortoise). Cistuda Europaa, Gray (European box terrapin, or water tortoise). Emys Vulgaris, L. (common terrapin, or mud tortoise). Order, SAURI. Monitor Niloticus, Geoff. (Nilotic monitor). Monitor ? Probably M. Ocellatus, Rüpp., found in Kordofan. *Psammosaurus Scincus, Licht. (grey ouran). Acanthodactylus Savignyi, And. (Savigny's lizard). Scutellatus, And. (shielded lizard). Velox, Dugès (variable lizard). Eremias Pardalis, Licht. (panther lizard). Algyra Barbarica, Cuv. (common algyra). Tarentola Mauritanica, L. (Mauritanian gecko). Egyptiaca? Cuv. (annulated gecko). Not clearly identified, and possibly T. Delalandii, Dum. Bibr., which has been found in West Africa. *Ascolobates Stenodactylus, Licht. (sheath-claw gecko). Chamaleo Vulgaris, L. (common chameleon). Stellio Vulgaris? Latr. (common stellio). *Heteromeles Mauritanicus, D. B. *Not found by myself, but given on the authority of trustworthy local naturalists. |