108 



THE OOLOQIST 



structures, as well as in the sont and 

 lebbakh trees wherever they could 

 find them, even in village streets, and 

 always felt surprised at their tame- 

 ness, since our own Hawks and Kites 

 are so wild and shy in the breeding 

 season. I give but one instance to il- 

 lustrate their utter fearlessness: 



While stopping at Shepard's Hotel 

 in Cairo, I found that a pair of these 

 Kites had a nest in a carob shade 

 tree, in front of the hotel. Now Cairo 

 is as large as Boston and this was its 

 busiest street, with thousands of vehi- 

 cles and people on foot passing under 

 it every hour. I judged that the nest 

 was 40 feet above the walk, and not 

 over 50 feet from my window, and 

 my room being on the third floor, I 

 could look directly into it, and I 

 watched the family for ten days with 

 great interest. The young were hatch- 

 ed on our second day at the hotel, and 

 the mother would rise up every few 

 minutes to take a look at them, show- 

 ing great concern and affection. I of- 

 ten saw them fed, and one of the old 

 birds was with them all the time, 

 though they often changed places on 

 the ,nest. I left Cairo reluctantly 

 wishing I could stay till the young 

 left the nest. The brood doubtless 

 came to maturity, as no one molests 

 them, the people according them pro- 

 tection for the good they think they 

 do. 



The next bird to claim our atten- 

 tion is the Hooded Crow (Corvus 

 cornix), very abundant in the Delta 

 and all the way up the river, as well 

 as in all the countries we visited in 

 Europe and Asia. It is fully as large 

 as the American Crow, and is con- 

 spicuous by its light slate-colored 

 body, with jet black head, tail and 

 -wings. It is as tame as the Kite, al- 

 lowing one to walk within a few feet 

 of it. and I often saw it looking for 

 food within ten feet of people work- 



ing in the fields. It breeds in Febru- 

 ary and March, nesting in great num- 

 bers in the zoological garden and 

 parks of Cairo, in the groves of date 

 palms, or anywhere they can fina „ 

 carob or sont tree in which to pluC-3 

 the bulky nest, which may not be over 

 ten feet above ground. Though it is 

 so numerous, I never saw them in 

 flocks. It feeds on dead animals, grain, 

 insects, lizards, frogs, etc., but it is 

 not a persistent hunter of birds' eggs 

 like our crow. 



The Rook, (Corvus fruglegus), was 

 fairly common, but most seen about 

 parks and gardens and near towns 

 and cities. Not common in Upper 

 Egypt. 



Egypt has two Ravens. The Brown- 

 necked Raven (Corvus umbrinus) and 

 the Abyssinian Raven, (C. afiinis). 

 The first I saw several times on the 

 desert. The last, while probably seen, 

 could not be positively identified. 



There are eight Eagles in the lists 

 of Egyptian birds, most of them rare. 

 I positively identified only the Spot- 

 ted Eagle (Aquila naevia). 



Of five Vultures of Egypt all were 

 seen. The giant of all, the Griffon 

 Vulture (Gyps fulvus), I saw many 

 times, singly, or in twos or threes, 

 on sand bars or low islands of Upper 

 Egypt. The black and white Egyp- 

 tian Vulture (Neophron percuopterus) 

 was noticed but once, the Black Vul- 

 ture (Vultur monachus) and the So- 

 ciable Vvilture (V. Auricularis), sev- 

 eral times each, while I saw three of 

 the great Southern Bearded Vulture 

 (Gypsetus nudipes) sailing about the 

 base of the IMokattam hills to the east 

 of Cairo. 



Over the river, the Fish Hawk, (Pan- 

 dion Naliaetus) — (Identical with ours) 

 — was seen a few times. The Merlin 

 (Falco aesalon) was noticed daily,, 

 while the Kestrel (F. tinnunculus> 

 was abundant, and the lesser Kes- 



