54 Mr. E. C. Taylor — Egypt Revisited. 



21. Circus ^eruginosus (L.). Marsh-Harrier. 



Egypt is a fine country for Harriers, and I have obtained 

 there all four of the European species, of which this is much the 

 most common, and is extremely abundant all along the Nile 

 valley. We killed examples in all stages of plumage, including 

 several with the wings and tail quite pale grey. This species is 

 much less addicted to perching on trees than the two following 

 ones. I believe it is generally known that it breeds in the dark 

 brown stage of plumage. 



22. Circus cyaneus (L.). Hen-Harrier. 



Not by any means a common species. Near Manfaloot I 

 found a large orange-grove surrounded by a thick band of gum- 

 acacia trees, which seemed a regular colony of Harriers ; for one 

 of our party and myself shot there, in little more than an hour, 

 a male and two females of this species, and a male and three 

 females of Circus swainsoni, all adults. This was in the month 

 of March. 



23. Circus swainsoni, A. Smith. Pale Harrier. 

 Decidedly more common than C. cyaneus, and much given 



to perching on low thick trees. The females of these two species 

 are not very easy to distinguish, unless shot in company with the 

 males. 



24. Circus cineraceus (Montagu). Montagu's Harrier. 



I must confess that I never saw an adult male of this species 

 in Egypt; but we shot a few immature specimens, which, from 

 their small size and the uniform colouring of their under parts, I 

 can refer to no other species. 



25. Bubo ascalaphus, Savigny. Egyptian Eagle-Owl. 

 We shot a specimen of this fine bird in February on our way 



up the Nile. I afterwards saw one near the Pyramids of Ghizeh 

 early in April, but did not succeed in shooting it. On the same 

 day I got two eggs of this species from an Arab who had taken 

 them a few days previously in the Pyramid of Aboroash, about 

 five miles north of Ghizeh ; he had caught the old bird on the 

 nest, and I saw its mangled remains. 



26. Asio OTUS (L.). Long-eared Owl. 



We shot two or three pairs of this Owl. They were always 



