i6 Bird Notes from the Nile. 



One of the most beautiful of the waders 

 is the Glossy Ibis, with shining plumage 

 of blue and green and bronze. We were 

 fortunate enough to see one of these lovely 

 birds on the edge of a sand bank just 

 south of Korosko when we were there in 

 November. The rosy-plumaged Flamin- 

 goes are familiar to every traveller in 

 Egypt. Large flocks of them are seen in 

 the lakes of the Delta and Fayum, often 

 standing in fantastic attitudes; but they 

 are very rare on the river. 



Many Herons are to be met with in the 

 whole length of the Nile Valley. The 

 common herons, exactly like those at 

 home, were very familiar friends. We used 

 to watch one of these every morning near 

 Aswan, standing on one leg on a rock, 

 waiting to catch his fish breakfast. The 

 palm groves and sont, or mimosa trees, 

 which in many places fringe the river 

 banks, are the roosting-places of the 

 Night Herons during the day, their hoarse 

 cries being heard as they feed at night. 

 The Buff-backed Herons, too, are very 

 numerous in Upper Egypt. In winter 

 their plumage is pure white, only here and 



