242 Mr. S. S. Allen on the Birds of Egypt and Nubia. 



parties about the inland marshy pools and canals. But the loca- 

 lities beyond all others favoured by them are the large, shallow, 

 brackish lakes, surrounded by marshes, which extend at intervals 

 all along the coast, from Alexandria to Port Said (near the site 

 of the ancient Pelusium), the most important being Lakes Mare- 

 otis, Etko, Bourlos, and last, but not least, Menzaleh, on which 

 the town of Damietta stands. To the three last of these lakes, 

 particularly, immense numbers of Ducks resort, which suffer no 

 perceptible diminution from the efforts of the Arabs of the neigh- 

 bouring villages, many of whom make their living by snaring 

 and netting them for sale. 



In consequence of the increasing demand for game and wild- 

 fowl in Alexandria, and the high prices given. Lake Mareotis 

 swarms with " pot-hunting gunners," whose never-ceasing noise 

 and worry are fast driving the Ducks away from their favourite 

 haunts in that neighbourhood, to seek less disturbed quarters 

 elsewhere. The poor Coots, which apparently have not enough 

 sense, or too much love of home, to follow their example, stand 

 a fair chance of being exterminated, in spite of their numbers, 

 before long, as they are massacred and brought to market by 

 sackfuls at a time. 



Larus fuscus. 



Larus argentatus. 



Dr. Leith Adams appears to have given the name of the 

 Lesser Black-backed, through inadvertence, for that of the Her- 

 ring-Gull. The former, however, is here, and is common near 

 Damietta, though I have never observed it inland. 



Rhynchops orientalis, Riipp. 



Sylochelidon caspia, Brehm. 



Gelochelidon anglica, Brehm. 



Sternula minuta, Boie. 



Hydrochelidon hybrida, Bp. 



Sterna, sp. ? 



Of five species of Terns hitherto noticed, the Gull-billed is 

 the only one that I have seen far inland. All the others are 

 more or less common in the lower part of the Delta, particularly 

 in the neighbourhood of Damietta and Lake ]\^euzaleh. I feel 



