— 113 — 



434. Levantine Shearwater. Puffinus puffinus yelkonanus 



(Acerbi). 



Puffinus atiglonim (partim). Shelley, p. 312. 



Not uncommon on the coasts. 



Similar to the afore-mentioned, but browner above and 

 more mottled with grey on the neck, as are also the flanks and 

 under tail coverts. 



435. Little Auk. Alle alle (Linna3us). 



Not mentioned by Shelley. 



On September 7, 1907, a little auk flew through the 

 verandah of the old Savoy Hotel at Port Said within a few feet 

 of where I was sitting. It was so close that I could see its 

 eye, and I have no hesitation in including it amongst the birds 

 of Egypt. 



Length about 8j inches. In summer the head, neck and 

 upper parts are black ; a small white spot over the eye ; rest 

 of plumage white. In winter the whole of the underparts 

 are white. 



STRUTHIONES. 



436. Ostrich. Strutljia CaiTlclus Linnaeus. 



Struthio catnelus. Shelley, p. 315. 



The ostrich has been extinct in Egypt for at least seventy 

 years. There is no doubt that it once occurred on the deserts 

 on both sides of the Nile. The remains of egg-shells are to be 

 found in the Western desert, and it was seen in the Eastern desert 

 in 1816. An old Bedouin at Abu Ruweish told me about 10 years 

 ago that about sixty- five years before, he saw his last ostrich 

 " nest," in which the young had recently been hatched. While 

 placing no reliance on this old man's statement as to the ap- 

 proximate date, I believe that, from his detailed description 

 of the nest and egg-shells, the ostrich has nested during his 

 lifetime in the Western desert. 



