SIX months' bird collecting in EGYPT. 23 1 



beauty. Sometimes one might be seen floating beside the 

 diabeyha ; and I remember there were more than a score of 

 them swimming within gunshot of the place where we 

 anchored at Cairo. Though so pure to look at, they are 

 foul feeders. I shot one beside the stranded carcase of an 

 enormous Nile fish : it contained scales larger than a 

 shilling. On comparing five adult Egyptian skins with 

 three English ones, it is seen that the back is darker by 

 many shades ; legs yellow, beak ditto, inferior angle red, 

 eyelid red, eye yellow; length 21 inches. 



Obs. Skua Gull. 



June 17th, Alexandria, observed a bird which has 

 not been noticed in Egypt before, viz., a Skua, 

 but of what species I cannot say. It appeared 

 too big for Richardson's Skua. It was teasing 

 the Gulls in the harbour. 



205. Caspian Tern, Sterna cospia, Pall ; 



" Abou Belaha," i.e., Father of Dates : so called because of 



its red beak. 



A fine one obtained, January 23rd, at Damietta, where 

 they are not uncommon, and may occasionally be decoyed 

 within gunshot by whistling in imitation of their note. Al- 

 ways intently searching the surface of the water, they fly at 

 a somewhat greater altitude than the other Terns, from 

 which they may be distinguished afar ofi" by their magnifi- 

 cent red bills. We saw several in Upper Egypt, and shot 

 three splendid specimens near Gebel-Silsilis the first week 

 in April, besides one at the Faioum on the 2nd of June. 

 The last seen on the Nile was on the 12th of May. They 

 weigh about \\ lb. Feet black, mottled with yellow. The 

 specimen shot at the Faioum was much more backward 



