Bird Notes from the Nile. 19 



fast while hunting for their food. A flock 

 of Kentish Plover may be met with now 

 and then. They are difficult to see as their 

 plumage is so much like the sand banks, 

 which are their favourite haunts. 



Of geese and ducks Egypt has a 

 large share of varieties. These birds 

 were more plentiful in Egypt in ancient 

 times than they are now, and many 

 representations of flocks of them are to 

 be seen on the walls of temples and 

 tombs. Among those most numerous 

 now on the river are the Egyptian Goose, 

 a handsome bird with shaded brown head, 

 reddish back, white wings, and pale, rose- 

 coloured legs. These geese are most pug- 

 nacious, and during the breeding season the 

 ganders fight desperately, and have even 

 been known to drown each other as swans 

 do. Their nests are made in fields near the 

 river, and also on ledges and holes of rocks 

 just above high water mark, they are also 

 said to build in trees. When sitting, the 

 goose only leaves her nest once a day, 

 and during her absence is said to carefully 

 cover her eggs with down. The White- 

 fronted Goose, too, is common ; he is a 



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