Bird Notes from the Nile. 9 



showed her gratitude by presenting us 

 with a fresh egg nearly every morning ! 

 Egyptian chickens are small and thin, 

 and their eggs not much larger than those 

 of bantams ; but they make up in quantity 

 what they lose in quality, and fresh eggs 

 are obtainable everywhere, from Cairo to 

 Wady Haifa. 



One day we passed a small felucca 

 which was literally hung all over with 

 coops full of chickens. We thought that 

 they were for sale, or that they were 

 being taken to some market, but on 

 inquiry we learnt that the owner of 

 the boat was a native of Korosko, and 

 that he had come down the river to trade 

 some two years previously, and when on 

 his homeward voyage he got as far as 

 Aswan, he found further progress stopped 

 by the building of the great dam. Arab- 

 like, he behaved quite philosophically, 

 and contented himself by sailing up and 

 down between Luxor and Aswan, waiting 

 for the opening of the lock-gates. The 

 large number of chickens he had on board 

 were the provisions given him by the 

 inhabitants of the various villages where 



