THE IBIS. 



361 



singularly majestic. When about to alight, their flight becomes 

 slower, they hover for a moment, then their evolutions trace 

 a conical spire, and finally descending, they immediately 

 arrange themselves in a long line, place their sentinels, and 

 commence their fishing operations. 



On the borders of Lake Menzaleh, in Egypt, thousands upon 

 thousands of flamingoes may often be seen standing in scarlet 

 array. The Arabs catch them in nets, or endeavour to surprise 

 the sentinels by cautiously creeping up to them under the 

 water, and suddenly breaking their necks before they have time 

 to give the note of alarm. It is then easy to catch a number 

 of the unsuspecting troop. The flamingoes are not only 

 beautiful in appearance, but their flesh also surpasses that of 

 most other birds in delicacy of flavour. At the renowned 

 culinary 'feasts of Lucullus, their fleshy tongues, interwoven, 

 with fat, formed one of the rarest and most highly prized 

 dishes. Many of the learned have doubted the truth of this 

 tradition, as the Eomans were unacquainted with the use of 

 fire-arms, but Brehm,* who thinks it would have been impossible 

 to collect so many flamingoes by means of the noisy gun, is 

 convinced that they were caught with nets in the swamps of 

 Pontus, as they are now on Lake Menzaleh. 



The white Ibis, who formerly made his appearance from the 

 I'south, along with the swelling waters of the Nile, was revered 

 as a sacred bird by the Egyptians, 

 as the herald of the abundance which 

 Ithe growing river was about to scatter 

 over the inundated land. They paid 

 .him divine honours, they embalmed his 

 [remains with the same spices which 

 served to preserve the corpses of princes 

 from decay, and the pyramid of Sa- 

 »karrah served as the mausoleum of 

 countless thousands of Ibises. At 

 present, however, the sacred bird, as if 

 resenting the deprivation of his ancient 

 : honours, no longer makes his appear- 

 ance in Egypt, for he is never met with beyond the northern 



EGYrriAN IBIS. 



* ' Reiseskizzen aus Nord-Ost-Afrika.' 



