1921.] - Birds of Lower Egypt. 377 



185. Cursorius gallicus gallicus. Cream-coloured Courser. 

 A few pairs are resident on tlie edge of tlie cultivation 



near Abu Zabaal, and also near Marg. Their numbers 

 increase in August and September, when flocks of up to 

 forty-five have been seen. These contained a percentage 

 of immature birds. At all seasons the}' are inclined to be 

 gregarious, and I noted the fact that they flew considerable 

 distances at a regular time, about sundown, to feed on the 

 camel-thorn patches which occur on the edge of the desert. 

 There they consumed enormous numbers of small green 

 cater[)illars. Throughout my stay the same line of flight 

 was always used with a surprising regularitv. I spent more 

 time looking for eggs of this bird than for any other species 

 — and never succeeded. In 1916 I shot a bird of the year 

 in August. In 1917 Captain W. Bigger and myself caught 

 a young bird about a fortnight old, which was feeding with 

 the adults on the edge of the desert. In 1918 Lieut. D. Paton 

 discovered a pair of chicks about a day old. I saw these, 

 and they must have been hatched on a patch of gravel about 

 half a mile out in the desert. This was on 13 May, and two 

 days later I located yet two other lots of young birds in 

 similar situations. With these dates to work on I had hopes 

 of finding eggs in 1919, but unfortunately the riots and my 

 departure from Egypt prevented my doing so. I never 

 met with more cunning and wide-awake birds, and as 

 their breeding numbers were so small, finding their eggs 

 was a difficult proposition. I saw young Coursers about a 

 fortnight old on the desert at the Wadi Natrun on 24 May, 

 1918, and have little doubt but that it breeds on the edge of 

 the desert both east and west of the Nile, 



186. Glareola pratincola pratincola. Common Pratincole. 

 Major F. W. Borman found the red-winged form breeding 



near Sidi Salem in 1918. 



On 29 May hard-set eggs and young birds were found by 

 him on a piece of waste ground, Sidi Salem is in the Delta 

 near the coast. The clutch appeared to be two or three. 



[At Inchas on 2^ April and 3 May, 1909, 1 shot specimens 



2 2 



