Bird Notes from the Nile. 51 



are generally to be found in small packs 

 in the desert, or they may be sighted in 

 the early morning or late in the evening 

 flying very high at a tremendous pace to 

 the river, where they go daily to drink. 

 The Sand Grouse lays its eggs in the sand, 

 in a little hole which it hollows out and 

 lines with withered grass. 



There is a rarer kind, the Senegal Sand 

 Grouse, which is sometimes met with. It 

 has no black "waist-belt," and has more 

 grey on its head than the other variety. 



The coroneted Sand Grouse is another 

 rare bird, which may be seen occasionally 

 in Nubia. It can be easily identified by 

 the peculiar patch of black on its chin, 

 and on either side of its face. It is also 

 smaller than the commoner variety. 



An indigenous bird is the pretty little 

 Desert, or Sand, Partridge, which is not 

 much bigger than a Quail. We saw many 

 of these. 



A very scarce bird, which loves the 

 desert, is the Cream-coloured Courser. 

 It appears in small parties in quiet places, 

 and can easily be distinguished by its 

 peculiarly marked head and by its white 



E 2 



