1-.).' EGYPTIAN BIRDS 



Limestones of which they are formed seem to have 

 weathered and perished more than in other parts, 

 and honeycombed masses, and caves large and 

 small, are visible everywhere on its nearly perpen- 

 dicular sides. It is in these caves that birds have 

 found a happy nesting-ground, and the extent of 

 the deposit of guano in them shows that they have 

 inhabited them for centuries. 



The miide-books tell of these high cliffs— "sudden 

 gusts of wind from the mountain often render great 

 precaution necessary in sailing beneath them " ; and 

 on the last occasion of passing there was evidence 

 of this, as a regular gale came on us just as we were 

 passing and drove us along at a great pace. This 

 wildness is similar to the wild windiness of the 

 sea-coast, and the Cormorants may in this fact find 

 some attraction to this inland home. But I should 

 think it is far more likely still, that the founders 

 of that colony were birds that had been reared 

 in some of the other breeding-places that exist in 

 the great Salt Lakes of Lower Egypt, and that 

 by some chance taking to the river, which at 

 Menzaleh would not be more than a mile or two 

 away, found that the river fish were excellent, 

 that life was pleasant, and the cliffs suitable for 

 safely nesting in. " Stomach rules the world " is 



