140 " BIRDS OF THE AIR." 



hare, while careful never to come within reach of his beak, 

 lest he might be driven in desperation to attack the canoe. 

 " Our camp," says Macgregor, " had been moved down 

 to Almanzeh, and our men there wondered to see the Roh 

 Roy coming slowly from afar, and very crooked in her 

 course, with something white in front of her bow, which 

 seemed in the distance to be a foaming wave. When near 

 the camp, I rushed in quickly to get the double-barrel, and 

 then went off again to the pelican, who meantime was far 

 on his way to some reedy home. There was only small 

 shot in the gun, and that could not penetrate his feathers. 

 But at length I chased him ashore ; and he was soon en- 

 veloped in an Arab cloak, fighting bravely all the time. 

 His wing measured four feet six inches, which, allowing 

 for the body, would give about ten feet of stretch between 

 the two tips." 



In the sayings and parables of our Lord we find frequent 

 allusion to the abundance of the bird life of Palestine ; 

 and the countless birds of all kinds, the aquatic fowl by 

 the lake-side, and the host of partridges and pigeons hover- 

 ing above the fertile plain of Gennesareth, still remind the 

 traveller of the " birds of the air " which " came and de- 

 voured the seed by the wayside," or took refuge in the 

 luxuriant branches of the mustard-tree. The air echoes 

 with the sweet strains of several species of warblers ; while 

 the exquisite Palestine nightingale, long before sunrise, 

 pours forth its lyric melodious outbursts from the thickets 

 which fringe the banks of the Jordan. 



The Dalmatian Nuthatch is also a sweet singer. This is 



