COLLECTING BIEDS. 57 



matters ? We have accomplished our purpose ; and what is 

 time in Egypt ? Alas ! I know too well that it does not pass 

 cvurency for money out here, although it may cost the tra- 

 veller dearly. 



I remain in this camp till the 5th of March, spending some 

 days paddling about, or waiting for Duck among the half- 

 sunken bushes and reeds. This is most enjoyable, away from 

 the natives, who, with the best intentions, often get terribly 

 in the way, and are utterly useless in finding Quail or Snipe, 

 though they make first-rate retrievers in open water, rarely 

 failing to capture a wounded duck, such capital swimmers are 

 they. Other days I spend after Duck and Snipe in the boggy 

 ground or among the drains ; or, going inland, I beat the 

 bushes and fields for Hares, Quail, and Sandgrouse, the latter 

 birds being very plentiful in the Payoom. When the game- 

 birds have begun to get shy, I make a raid upon the small 

 birds for my collection, and recognize the well-known note of 

 the Common Bunting. This is the first time I have met with 

 it in Egypt, though I afterwards find it plentiful in the Delta 

 in March. I also get several specimens of Savi's Warbler 

 and the Aquatic Pipit, and also an Anthis Raalteni, a South- 

 African Pipit, a bird which has never before been procured 

 so far north. While passing over a desert patch of saud, 

 four Goatsuckers, Caprimulgus isabellinus, rose from under my 

 feet, uttering a little snapping note, and three took refuge in 

 the bushes ; but after an hour's search I procured them. All 

 four proved to be males, from which I conclude they had 

 only just arrived. 



March Mh. — Cross the lake with all my camp, and remain 

 on the desert side until the 11th, passing the whole of the 

 day upon the water among the reeds. Unfortunately a strong 



