Mr. S. S. Allen on llie Birds of Egypt and Nubia. 241 



SCOLOTAX MAJOR. 

 SCOLOI'AX fiAI,MNAO(). 

 SCOLOPAX OALLINULA. 

 RllYNCflyl'-A BENOALIONSIS. 



I shot the Great Snipe in May 18fj3 at Damictta, but it in a 

 rare bird. The Common and Jack Snipes are abundant during 

 the wint(;r in Lower I^'^yi't and in the Faioum, and a few may be 

 met with in Hnitable localities here and there up the river. 

 They leave Egypt about the middle of March. The I'uinted 

 Snipe, though now and then found up the river, is at home in 

 the N.E. corn(;r of the Delta, near Damietta, where it breeds 

 about the end of May. What, if any, is the difference between 

 R. fjcnf/alensis and R. capensin'r-^- 



HiMANTOPd.S MIOJ.ANOPTKRUS. 



Recur VI ROSTRA avocktta. 



Stragglers of the former species are occasionally seen in 

 Upper Kgypt ; but they are very numerous in the Delta and 

 also in the Faioum, where they are found in small flocks wading 

 about the pools which are tlie invariable accompaniment of every 

 Arab village. The same holds good to some extent of the 

 Avocet, though that bird prefers the sand-banks and shallows in 

 the river. 



CaSARCA RITILA. 



Tadorna vulpaxskr. 



Not common; (jnce obtained at Esne. The Common Shel- 

 drake is often brought to market in Alexandria, but I have never 

 seen it up the country. 



Anas nosciiAS. Fuligula ferina. 



Anas strkpera. Nyroca leucophthalma. 



Rhynchaspis clypeata. Querquedula circia. 



Dafila acuta. Querquedula crecca. 



MaRECA PENELOPE. 



All these Ducks are more or less abundant, being found in 

 large flocks on the sand-banks in the river, or scattered in smaller 



* We believe them to be identical (cf. Swinhoe, P. Z. S. \Hf)ii, p. .314). 

 -Ed. .* 



