Bird Notes from the Nile. 37 



ask him to take back the golden crowns, 

 he would do so, and as a reward for their 

 meekness and a mark of his favour he 

 presented them with the beautiful little 

 feather crowns which the Hoopoes wear 

 to this day. 



The Bee-eaters are perhaps the most 

 showy of the birds of Egypt. In summer 

 the lovely little Green Bee-eater is com- 

 moner below Luxor than above, but in 

 winter it is found here and there all the 

 way to the Second Cataract, and is a 

 constant resident. The larger varieties 

 are the Blue-cheeked and the Common, 

 or Yellow-throated, Bee-eater. We saw 

 these at Khartoum in November, and again 

 in the late spring in Egypt. While 

 breakfasting in the garden at Khartoum a 

 pair of Bee-eaters always flitted about 

 close to us, and amused themselves swing- 

 ing on a long string which was stretched 

 between two trees to support some climbing 

 plant. 



The Bee-eaters well deserve their name, 

 for they thoroughly enjoy hovering beside 

 a hive, and snapping up the bees as they 

 fly in and out. I have seen them thus 



