238 Mr. W. Raw on the [Ibis, 



can probably only accelerate to a slight extent. In this 

 conclusion I am naturally excepting " courtship " flight, 

 which is usually of an accelerated nature. 



I also find, after eliminating abnormal conditions and 

 observations based . on meagre evidence, that the normal 

 and migratory rate of flight in miles per hour is as 

 follows : — 



CorvidEe 31-45 Starlings 38-49 



Smaller Passeres. 20-37 Falcons 40-48 



Geese 42-55 Ducks 44-59 



Tame Piiieons ... 30-36 Sand-Grouse ... 43-47 

 Waders 34-51, but mostly from 40-51. 



XIII. — Field Notes on the Birds of Lower Egypt. By 

 W. Raw, M.B.O.U. With Contributions hy Colonel R. 

 Sparrow, G.M.G., D.S.O., M.B.O.U., and the Rev, 

 F. C. R. JouRDAiN, M.A., M.B.O.U. 



From August 1915 until April 1919 I was resident at the 

 Wireless Station of Abu Zabal. The village of that name 

 is situated some twenty miles nortli-east of Cairo, and my 

 quarters were a further mile in the same direction, right on 

 the Cairo-Ismailia canal, where it skirts the edge of the 

 desert. Thus I had easy access to the cultivation, desert, and 

 palm-groves, while some two hundred acres of useful swamps 

 (known as the Birket Accrashi) were within half-an-hour's 

 walk. The locality was therefore ideal for ornithological 

 observation. 



Throughout my stay I kept a daily diary, and the follow- 

 ing notes are culled from its pages. I endeavoured to secure 

 as much information on the breeding birds of Egypt as I 

 could, and for the purpose of putting my observations and 

 other information on record, I propose to include all my 

 oological data in this paper, although much of it was secured 

 outside the six-mile area included in the Abu Zabal district. 

 Due reference will be made to such divergence. 



To my friend Mr. J. Lewis Bonhote, M.A., F.L.S., F.Z.S., 



