Bird Notes from the Nile. 29 



We have often watched the Ospreys 

 fishing in the river, when, on a still 

 evening, the *'Dongola" was moored to 

 some quiet bank ; a bird would hover for 

 a moment, and then make a bold dash 

 into the water, seize his prey and soar 

 away out of sight to enjoy his meal in 

 peace. The spotted Eagles, too, we 

 constantly saw in unfrequented places on 

 the river, standing immovable, apparently 

 thinking hard, for ever so long ; at other 

 times busily engaged eating what we pre- 

 sumed to be fish, for though we never saw 

 them catch any as the Ospreys did, we 

 felt sure the food must have been caught 

 and left for them by other birds. The 

 small Booted Eagle was also seen many 

 times in various places. 



We first made the acquaintance of the 

 Griffon Vulture, with his odd white frill, 

 in the hills behind Shellal ; the great 

 Sociable Vulture, with skinny pink neck, 

 we met above Wady Haifa. In many 

 places the Egyptian Vulture is seen 

 floating above the desert in the clear blue 

 sky, with his yellow neck, curved back, 

 and his beautiful black and white wings 



