2 INTRODUCTION. 



experiences in Egypt, in order to give the reader some idea 

 of the nature of the country and the best locaUties for the 

 ornithologist and sportsman to visit. I shall then give a 

 more complete list than has been hitherto pubUshed, with a 

 description of each species, of the birds which are un- 

 doubtedly to be found in Egypt between the Mediterranean 

 and the Second Cataract, to which limits my observations 

 have been confined. 



In the following pages the greater portion of the infor- 

 mation given is derived from my own personal observation, 

 the result of three ornithological tours which I have made in 

 Egypt, and from a collection of nearly a thousand skins 

 which are now in my possession. 



In my descriptions of the birds, I have endeavoured to 

 point out the characters by which they may be most easily 

 recognized, and have placed in italics the characteristic points 

 by which allied species may be distinguished from one 

 another. 



I have given plates of a few of the most interesting species 

 which have come under my notice ; some of these have never 

 been figured before ; and in order to facilitate the naming 

 and classification of the specimens when brought home, I 

 have referred at the end of each description to some good 

 figure of the species, selecting as often as possible from the 

 four following works : — Gould's ' Birds of Asia,' his ' Birds 

 of Europe,' and the works on the latter subject by Messrs. 

 Sharpe and Dresser, and Dr. Bree. 



