28 



SWALLOWS IN THE SAHARA. 



dows the swallows used to enter in crowds. There 

 were no ceilings, so they were free to seat themselves 

 upon the roof-timberings, etc. These birds used to 

 sing in the most beautiful way, in a succession of 

 graceful twitters, most musical in tone. As long as 

 one remained perfectly still, they would sit almost close 

 beside one; but at the first movement they darted off 

 like a flash of lightning. When a village is deserted 

 by man we have the high authority of Dr. Livingstone 

 for saying that it is quickly deserted by the singing 

 birds also. * 



In Upper Egypt also, at Luxor and other places, 

 we have often heard the most beautiful notes proceed- 

 ing from unknown birds which it was difficult to get 

 a good look at. The very early mornings at the 

 Luxor Hotel used sometimes to have a special charm 

 of this kind, as it is surrounded by an extensive garden 

 (for this desert country). The cool fresh air used then 

 to be fragrant with the faint scent of mimosa blossoms, 

 and before the sun got hot, the songs of birds used 

 often to be peculiarly beautiful. 



AU the Arab villages are also everywhere beset by 

 numbers of birds, which live in holes in walls and 

 among ruins, and form a feathered colony in the midst 

 of the desert. It may be that many of these singing 

 and other birds may feed upon grain and things thrown 

 out from the houses, but some of them (the swallow 

 for instance) live on gnats, flies and aerial insects, which 

 again generally swarm in myriads in Arab kitchens 

 and other such places where food is kept. This will 

 of course attract the fly catchers: also we can have 

 no doubt that the presence of man scares away 



* Expedition to the Zambesi, by David Livingstone, pub. 1865, p. 65. 



