106 EGYPTIAN BIRDS 



seems to be roughly the great valley of the Nile 

 right to its entrances to the Mediterranean ; but 

 on the return journey from Europe they seem to 

 reach the shores of Egypt, then turn eastwards 

 and follow the line of the Suez Canal and Red 

 Sea to about Kosseir and the old river-bed, then 

 across the desert to the Nile, and away spread- 

 ing themselves over the heart of Africa." 



*' On their arrival in Egypt they are so dog- 

 tired that they can sometimes be caught by hand, 

 and have been actually so caught in houses that 

 they have entered in a sort of dazed condition. 

 The poor Quail are also caught in large numbers 

 by a drop-net whilst on passage down the river, 

 in clover, or any other suitable crop, the fowler call- 

 ing them up to his net by a reed whistle. Quail 

 shooting used to be a more favourite sport than 

 it is now since Denshawie days, and two guns 

 have on one occasion obtained 252 birds in the 

 day at Ayat, fifty miles south of Cairo." 



After this one is not disposed to say " liar " 

 even to the ancient historian who recorded the sink- 

 ing of certain vessels in the ocean, because of the 

 innumerable Quail that settled on them ; and one 

 readily accepts the story of the Israelites' camp 

 being covered all over two cubits high by falling 



