1921.] Birds of Loxcer Egypt. 379 



month. It is a remarkable tliino- that it does not remain 

 to breed at Abii Zabaal or Iiicbas, where suitable gronnd 

 is abundant, for it breeds nearer the coast, and is numerous 

 in the nesting-season on the shores of Lake Qarun in the 

 Fajum Province. In the latter locality I found five nests 

 between the ]8th and 21st of March, 1917. Tw^o eggs are 

 a full clutchj and the bird always covers the eggs prior to 

 leaving them. They are completely covered up and very 

 difficult to find, but 1 discovered tracking the bird in the 

 sand quite a good plan, for they always run away whefl 

 danger approaches. I shot a female j'rom the nest, and 

 proved by a post-mortem that two was a full clutch. Some- 

 times the eggs are laid near to the water's edge, but more 

 frequently a hundred jards or more from the nearest water, 

 and always quite in the open. By watching through a pair 

 of field-glasses from a distance, one can see the bird rapidly 

 scratching the sand or dry mud over the eggs when they are 

 alarmed ; they then casually stroll off. We did not meet 

 with this species in the Wadi Natrun in May 1918. 



Major F. W. Borman was able to confirm my observations 

 in 1918, when he took three clutches of eggs at Sidi Salem 

 on 29 May. Thus it would appear that this bird is at least 

 double-brooded. 



[I took one fresh egg on waste ground near Lake Qariin 

 on 27 March, 1910. In South Africa, where I found several 

 nests, my observations agree with Mr. Raw's, but if one 

 rode near the nest the bird, instead of running away, stood 

 up over the eggs and flapped her wings, and on dismounting 

 pecked at a friend's finger. This procedure is to drive off 

 sheep and goats, and if a flock of goats were driven over the 

 nesting-ground I believe every nest could be found. — R. S.] 



192. Charadrius mongohis geoffroyi. Geoffrey's Plover. 



A rare bird at Abu Zabaal. I only met Avith one bii-d, 

 which I shot on 1 August, 1917. It was a bird of the year, 

 and was feeding; with some Cream-coloured Coursers on the 

 desert scrub. Fairly numerous on the coast in September 

 191G. 



