THE IBIS. 



No. XXI. JANUARY 1864. 



I. — Notes and Observations on the Birds of Egypt and Nubia. 

 By Dr. A. Leith Adams. 



The following notes on the birds of Egypt and Nubia were 

 made during November and the two following months^ whilst per- 

 forming the usual voyage up the Nile from Cairo to the Second 

 Cataract. They can, therefore, have no pretence to anything 

 like completeness, as, independent of the short time expended on 

 the excursion, I had not an opportunity of examining the Delta. 

 Moreover, there is not much to add to the avifauna of a country 

 so well known, excepting, perhaps, a few particulars connected 

 with the range, varieties, and distribution of species which may 

 have escaped the numerous competent naturalists who have 

 visited Egypt and Nubia. There is, however, a point of no small 

 interest connected with Egyptian ornithology, which must 

 always be attractive to the student. I refer to the identification 

 of the hieroglyphic characters with the present denizens of the 

 country, — in fact, their " range in historical time," which dates 

 back to some of the earliest world -known records. Thus 

 we are enabled in a measure to compare the familiar denizens 

 of the Nile Valley 4000 or 5000 years ago with the present 

 inhabitants, and in some degree to show how little they have 

 been affected, either numerically or physically, by what appears 

 to ordinary observers a vast period. As specimens of artistic 

 skill, many of the early delineations are perfectly wonderful. 



VOL. VI. B 



