i8 Bird Notes from the Nile. 



of Herodotus, who says (Book II., 68) that 

 it walks fearlessly into the mouth of the 

 crocodile to seek for its insect food. Others 

 say that the Spur-winged Plover is the 

 courageous bird of ancient history, and that 

 in modern times it still ventures between 

 the open jaws of the monster reptile. The 

 natives say that if the crocodile inadver- 

 tently shuts his mouth on the intruder the 

 **Zikzak" makes such good use of its 

 spurs, that, as one Arab quaintly put it in 

 his broken English, " She make Timsah 

 (crocodile) open the mouth again werry 

 quick." These *' Spurwings " or *'Zikzaks" 

 are seen everywhere, and are very con- 

 spicuous birds with sharply-defined black, 

 white and brown plumage, and noisy voices. 

 Another pretty bird is the White-tailed 

 Plover. It has a reddish back, white 

 throat and light brown head, and as its 

 name implies, a white tail. They are 

 seen oftenest in shallow backwaters and 

 irrigation canals, but are rare; we saw some 

 in Nubia on a mud bank, which the falling 

 river had j ust left exposed. The little Ringed 

 Plover is also often seen. These small 

 birds are lively and active, and run very 



