PREFACE. 



I HAVE always loved birds, and it has 

 been my habit during many wanderings 

 to keep a short diary, and, among other 

 things, always to mention any birds and 

 the locality in which I saw them. But 

 it is with great diffidence that I present 

 these "sketchy" Egyptian Notes to the 

 public. They do not in any w^ay pretend 

 to be scientific, and were originally only 

 re- written for my children. However, 

 the few friends who have read them in 

 manuscript persuade me that they may 

 be of more general interest, especially to 

 those who, like ourselves, have to pass a 

 winter at Aswan. 



If this be so, and they should in the 

 smallest degree amuse a traveller on the 

 Nile, or help him to make the acquain- 

 tance of any bird not already known to 



