324 BIRDS OF EaTPT. 



Fam. STRiGiDyE. — Strix aluco, the Tawny Owl, is included 

 on the authority of Savigny, who mentions it in his ' Descrip- 

 tion de I'Egypte.' Njjctala Tengmalmi appears to be very 

 rare, but is, I think, undoubtedly Egyptian ; nor can we 

 doubt Bubo ignavm being met with out there after the 

 very positive evidence of Von Heuglin (Orn. N. 0. Afr. 

 p. 110). The other six species of Owls are not uncommon 

 in Egypt. 



Earn. FalconidjE. — Among the Harriers, I am very scep- 

 tical as to Circus cineraceiis ever having been met with in 

 Egypt. Accipiter gahar I have no doubt is found, but is cer- 

 tainly of very rare occurrence in that country, though probably 

 more plentiful in Nubia. Among the true Falcons, Von Heuglin 

 includes Falco babi/lonicus, which he calls tolerably common 

 in Egypt and Nubia. It is a rare and not very well-known 

 bird ; so I think it may have been confounded with F. lana- 

 rius, as a similar error has caused F. cervicalis to have been 

 included by some authors in the Egyptian lists. Besides, 

 Von Heuglin has on several occasions confounded F. concolor 

 with F. eleonores, which mistake he has corrected in his large 

 work ; so that F. eleonorcB no longer holds a place as an 

 Egyptian bird. The absence of this Falcon, I think, may be 

 accounted for by there being no cliffs on the Mediterranean 

 coast ; and towards the Red Sea it is replaced by F. concolor. 

 Of the remainder of the Falcons in my list I have specimens 

 from the country in my own collection. Of the Kites, 

 I feel certain that Milviis regalis has never been met with in 

 Egypt, although Riippell goes so far as to call it common 

 about Alexandria. M. aggptius and M. migrans are con- 

 sidered by some ornithologists to be varieties of the same 

 species ; but I do not agree in this theory. Pernis apivorus 



