52 Bird Notes from the Nile. 



legs, and when running by its lightning- 

 like speed. 



Besides geese, ducks, desert grouse, and 

 partridges, there are few ** game " birds in 

 Upper Egypt, but we must not forget the 

 Quail, which every spring return in such 

 numbers that they afford excellent sport 

 to all who care to *'walk them up." They 

 are, however, migratory birds, though a 

 few certainly remain in the country each 

 year to breed. In the clover, lentil and 

 bean fields they may be found after 

 about the loth or 12th of March, and 

 we saw a few near Aswan much earlier 

 even than that. We only shot them 

 "for the pot," and very good they 

 were ! Kom Ombo is a good quail 

 country, and also the neighbourhood of 

 Thebes, and many other places between 

 Thebes and Cairo, in fact wherever suit- 

 able cover is to be found. Four different 

 snipe occur in the country, the solitary 

 snipe on the Delta only, but the common 

 and the Jack Snipe as far as Nubia, the 

 painted snipe chiefly in the Fayum. 



I think perhaps the birds we loved the 

 best were the little black and white Nile 



