64 Bird Notes from the Nile. 



inspecting a large flock of geese. Ser and 

 Terp are names found in the hieroglyphs 

 for two kinds of fat geese. 



Pigeons were caught and kept, and 

 doves, too, were fattened in the same 

 way as geese. The time of the visits of 

 the migratory birds coming from the 

 South was evidently one of rejoicing for 

 the bird-catcher, and luck was probably 

 believed to be brought by the earliest bird 

 that caught the worm, for another poem 

 tells us : 



" I go to set snares with my hands ; 

 All the birds of Arabia flutter over Egypt, 

 Anointed with myrrh. 

 The one that comes first seizes my worm ; 

 He brings his fragrance from Arabia ; 

 His claws are full of incense." 



Ladies amused themselves by catching 

 small birds in nets, and there was probably 

 great excitement when some little feathered 

 traveller from the *' incense country" was 

 captured and safely caged. 



Pictures of Ibis are also seen. These 

 were doubtless kept as sacred birds, as 

 they were dedicated to the god Thoth, 

 and their bodies were mummified and 

 preserved in tombs. Hawks were revered 



