'The Expedition for the survey of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, carried on by order of the British government, in the years 1835, 1836, and 1837; preceded by geographical and historical notices of the regions situated between the rivers Nile and Indus. In four volumes. With fourteen maps and charts, and embellished with ninety-seven plates, besides numerous wood-cuts. Volume the first.' [‎362] (437/905)

362
ANIMAL PRODUCTIONS.
[CHAP. XVI.
the pasture is almost burnt up by the approaching hot season,
the Kurds,, Turkomans, &c., remove to the elevated valleys in
the mountains, and there remain till the cold weather enables
them to resume their former localities, which usually are at
no great distance, although on some occasions they take their
flocks to a milder tract within the limits of Syria or Meso
potamia.
The animals differ but little from those of Persia and Meso
potamia; but the buffalo, which is found in a wild state
towards the shores of the Black Sea, is one exception, and the
Angora goat, whose beautiful silky hair is the effect of climate
rather than peculiarity of breed, is another. Bears, wolves,
jackalls, squirrels, and the kaplan or hunting tiger are more
numerous, as are serpents and scorpions; but, on the other
hand, the hyeena and the lion are seldom found. The Taurus
abounds with birds of prey, especially eagles and vultures ; and
one kind of the latter exceeds the condor in size. 1 Amongst
the birds may be noticed our magpie and the hooded crow ; 2
also the woodpecker, the bee-eater, the black and white heron,
wild geese, ducks, teals, widgeons, and coots; the black and
common ibis, 3 the common and blue jay or roller, the aigrette,
the flamingo, the francolin, and different kinds of bustards;
the little owl, and the Indian owl; 4 the desert, the black, the
grey, the red-legged, and a still larger partridge, not yet
described; also nightingales in countless numbers; and, finally,
the Aleppo plover, 5 a remarkable bird with a spur to its wing,
which is also found near the banks of the Nile.
The fields of Asia Minor suffer comparatively little from
that scourge of the East—the locust; but to the entomologist
and herpetologist the country would in other respects furnish
a rich and almost untrodden field.
Serpents are common; and leeches are taken in such numbers
as to be one of the principal articles of commerce. Sea and
river fish likewise abound; and the latter, as well as the trionyx
3 Vultur Cinereus, Linn. 2 Corvus Cornix.
6 S f ra - 4 Athena Indica, Gould.
Lharadrus cnstatus, Lesson, Man. d'Ornithologie.