Mr. E. Cavendish Taylor on Birds of Egypt. 369 



seen them in Egypt. I went from Damietta to Alexandria 

 on April 20th, whence, three days later, I left Egypt for Mar- 

 seilles direct by French steamer. On our voyage many land- 

 birds, evidently on their migration northwards, settled on the 

 rigging of our ship to rest. Among them I remember espe- 

 cially several Turtle Doves {Turtur vulgaris) and Yellow 

 Wagtails {Motacilla flava), and one Kestrel [Falco tinnun- 

 culus) . This last was caught asleep on its perch in the rig- 

 ging by one of the crew shortly after sunset. In the following 

 notes I do not give a list of the birds seen or shot by me. I 

 only mention those about which I have something to say in 

 addition to, or differing from, what has already been said by 

 myself or other writers on Egyptian ornithology. 



Aquila clanga (Pallas) . Greater Spotted Eagle. 



A very large female of this species was shot by an Arab on 

 18th April near Damietta, while I was staying there. It was 

 skinned by Mr. Fillipponi, purchased from him by me, and 

 is now in my collection. It is decidedly the largest individual 

 of the species I have ever seen, as it measures 31 inches in 

 length. The date on which it was shot (April 18th) is un- 

 usually late, and would lead one to suspect that this species 

 does sometimes stay to breed in that country. 



BuTEo DESERTORUM (Daudiu). Desert-Buzzard. 



A friend of mine shot an unusually large individual of this 

 species, while Quail-shooting near the Pyramids of Gizeh, 

 a few days before my arrival at Cairo. It is now in my 

 possession, and is the first and only specimen of the species 

 from Egypt that I have ever seen. 



BuTEO VULGARIS (Lcach) . Common Buzzard. 



On the 18th of April I shot, near Damietta, the very 

 smallest Buzzard T ever saw. It is not more that two thirds 

 of the usual size, and is very dark in colour. On dissection 

 I was unable to find any trace of sexual organs. Crop 

 crammed with lizards and small snakes. 



Falco lanarius, Linn. Lanner Falcon. 



This is a great frequenter of pyramids ; and I seldom visit 



SER. IV. VOL. 11. 2 c 



