130 EGYPTIAN BIRDS 



than when they are in big flocks on the salt lakes. 

 Those who travel up and down the Nile in the 

 only way one should do the river journey, namely, 

 by sailing dababeah, should keep a good lookout 

 for this beautiful bird ; but I fear that those who 

 pass by in great steamers have less chance, as I have 

 often noticed when my boat has been moored to 

 the bank that on the approach of these monsters 

 pouring out their black clouds of smoke, every 

 bird, great and small, hurries off in disgust if not 

 in absolute alarm. The Avocet is not a permanent 

 resident in Egypt, but comes from a northern 

 home to winter here. It is entirely dependent on 

 the water for its food, obtaining therefrom endless 

 minute specks of life by means of its bill, moved 

 from side to side on the top, or just under the sur- 

 face of the muddy pools. When at Lake Menza- 

 leh in March and April I saw great flocks of many 

 hundreds just near the last sandbank that separates 

 the lake from the Mediterranean, and Mr. M. J. 

 Nicoll has seen it there in January. They are 

 web-footed, a peculiarity that they share with 

 the Flamingo, another very long - legged wading 

 bird, but whereas the latter is really in form rather 

 an ugly, ungainly bird, the Avocet is peculiarly 

 elegant and graceful in all its movements. 



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