90 EGYPTIAN BIRDS 



go in pairs generally ; but in towns and such places 

 as the Zoological Gardens of Cairo they do fore- 

 gather in large numbers. Its food is generally 

 carrion, but it will take any living thing — lizards, 

 mice, and even beetles — that comes in its way, 

 and I have no doubt rob the nests of small birds, 

 not only of eggs but also of the unfledged young. 

 It is distinctly a handsome bird and it walks well, 

 holding its head high, whilst its flight is strong and 

 easy. 



It was entirely owing to a certain Crow, we 

 are told, that Cairo got its name, for it seems 

 that when the architect was planning out the 

 city, he arranged that the first stone of the great 

 surrounding wall should be laid at a particular 

 moment dictated by the astrologers. This moment 

 was to be made known to the architect by the pull- 

 ing of a cord extending from where he was to the 

 place where the astrologers were assembled. The 

 momentous day arrived, the architect awaited the 

 signal, and suddenly the cord was shaken, and the 

 stone was laid. But a horrid mistake had been 

 made. The astrologers had not pulled the cord ; a 

 wretched old Crow had heavily perched upon it, 

 and shaken by his weight, the unlucky signal was 

 given ! From the vexation caused by this incident 



