Dr. A. L. Adams un the Birds of Egypt and Nubia. 13 



the cheeks, breast, and flauks sparingly marked with rufous ; 

 the females 15 inches, with very clear plumage and regular 

 cross-barrings on the lower parts, without any rufous on the 

 plumage. 



Circus ^ruginosus. 



Individuals in various stages of plumage, including those 

 figured by Yarrell and Bewick, were observed both in Egypt 

 and Nubia. I noticed one feeding on a decomposed fish on a 

 sand-bank near Thebes. 



Circus pallidus *. 



This is the Common Harrier, and may frequently be observed 

 hunting the wheat-fields. I have not seen C. cyaneus, which, how- 

 ever, appears to have been killed in Egypt f- Several adult and 

 young males in the garb of the female measured in the flesh, as 

 near as possible, 16^ inches. I am inclined to think that C 

 pallidus is very much more common than C. cyaneus in the South 

 of Europe and North Africa. 



Athene meridionalis, Risso. 



My specimens are certainly paler than A. noctua (Retz.). 

 Several males and females measured 6 inches in length. It is 

 a regular tenant of the palm, tamarisk, and acacia groves, and ap- 

 parently hunts along the canal-banks in Lower Egypt during the 

 daytime. This is undoubtedly Minerva's bird, but authorities 

 question if it was held in the same veneration in Egypt as in Rome. 

 I once saw the Horned Owl on wing {Bubo ascalaphus, Sav. (?)), 

 and found a dead individual of Strix flammea in Nubia. A 

 Horned Owl, and perhaps the last species, very frequently occur 

 both in the hieroglyphic writings and on the walls of the tombs, 

 &c. ; none, however, appear to have been sacred. Mummied 

 Owls have been found at Thebes J. 



Caprimulgus isabellinus, Temm. 



I accidentally came on a pair asleep, at midday, among sand- 



* I presume Dr. Adams means Circus pallidus, Sykes, which is generally 

 (and better) known as C. swainsoni, Smith. Circus cineraceus (Montague's 

 Harrier) has also been called joaWit/j^s by Hodgson. — Ed. 



t Taylor, Ibis, 1859, p. 46. % Wilkinson, op. cit. 



