EGYPTIAN BIRDS 



many examples. Then again, it was taken and 

 placed on the body of a man, and made a symbol 

 of the god Thoth, who presided over arts, in- 

 ventions, writing, and literature. So it has come 

 to pass that all of us, before even our first visit to 

 the Nile, know of this bird, anyhow by name, and 

 being here, very naturally desire to see it. The 

 dragoman, being asked so frequently to point out 

 Sacred Ibises, long ago settled that it would be 

 best to please and humour his patrons, and deter- 

 mined to call all Egrets, Spoonbills, and Buff- 

 backed Herons, being white birds with long necks 

 and legs, Sacred Ibises. Time after time I have 

 been solemnly informed that four or five, or a 

 round dozen, Ibises had been seen at such a place. 

 On inquiry I have been told there could be no 

 mistake, as dear So-and-so, the dragoman, had 

 pointed them out and assured all and sundry that 

 they were " genuine Sacred Ibis." And though 

 strange, it is true, people prefer to believe a lie if 

 it confirms what they wish, than the truth if it 

 does not. The sad truth is, there are no Sacred 

 Ibises in Egypt at all, and the dragomans — any- 

 how, most of them — know this elementary bit of 

 ornithology perfectly well, but they prefer to lie, 

 and live in the perpetual atmosphere of mild 



